China Draws Iranian Ire Over UAE Islands Claim

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1. *Submission Statement:* China’s support for the UAE’s claim over three disputed islands in the Persian Gulf has caused tension with Iran. Backed by China, the UAE is seeking a resolution to the territorial dispute over Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa. Iran has rejected this stance, accusing the UAE of using diplomatic visits to advance its claims. Iranian media have criticized China’s position, suggesting a double standard by comparing it to Beijing’s stance on Taiwan. Strategically located near the Strait of Hormuz, the islands have long been a point of contention with Iran asserting historical ownership dating back to the Persian Empire.

2. >Keyhan, a hard-line newspaper whose chief editor is appointed by the supreme leader, argued that China’s support for the UAE’s claim meant that it “has implicitly accepted that its own claim over Taiwan is disputable and should be resolved through negotiations.”

   >Ahmad Naderi, a member of the presiding board of Iran’s conservative-leaning parliament, echoed a similar sentiment, accusing Beijing of adopting a “double standard” and saying it cannot insist on its One China policy while simultaneously questioning Iran’s territorial integrity.

   >In an implicit reference to Taiwan, the state-affiliated Mehr news agency said China itself considers “any mention of its territorial integrity a violation of its security red line.”

   >Therefore, it argued, China’s support for a statement questioning Iran’s sovereignty of the islands “is unjustifiable and cannot be ignored.”

   Iran’s outrage here is pure cope dressed up as “principle.” Invoking Taiwan to accuse China of hypocrisy doesn’t expose some fatal contradiction in Beijing’s position, it exposes Iran’s own lack of leverage. Great powers don’t follow principles; they use them. China treats Taiwan as existential and Iran’s island dispute as transactional, because China has the power to compartmentalize and Iran, crippled by sanctions and isolation, does not.

   If Tehran actually had options, this wouldn’t be playing out as wounded editorials and moral scolding in state media, it would be handled quietly through trade, pressure, or alliances. Instead, Iran is reduced to loudly reminding China of its own red lines because it has no way to enforce its own.

   The real takeaway isn’t that China undermined its Taiwan claim; it’s that Iran mistakenly thought dependency would buy loyalty. This isn’t necessarily hypocrisy, it’s hierarchy, and Tehran is learning the hard way which side of it it’s on.

3. China and UAE are building some kind of gold deposit (heard from a streamer sorry that this is so vague) and way to handle transactions purely in gold, sorry Iran that a worthless coward regime isn’t worth Chinas time compared to real de dollarization moves

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