As the Tehran Times, which has close ties to Iran's foreign ministry, wrote: "[T]oday we are witnessing the formation of a new world order...."
Iran, China and Russia recently conducted joint naval exercises in the Sea of Oman, dubbed Marine Security Belt 2023. Iran's state-controlled Press TV boasted that to oppose the United States, China and Russia have also stepped up their "joint military exercises in recent years as part of their aligning of foreign policies."
"Back in December, the naval forces of China and Russia launched a one-week joint exercise off the coast of the Chinese Zhejiang Province in the East China Sea. China's Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army said at the time that the joint exercise was directed at demonstrating the determination and capability of the two sides to jointly respond to maritime security threats, and further deepen the China-Russia comprehensive new-era strategic partnership of coordination."
When these kinds of critical axes develop in the world among authoritarian regimes, they will most likely last for many years, if not decades. As US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told lawmakers, the alliance among China, Russia and Iran would be a problem for the US. Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley said that Russia and China are "getting closer together.... And then... Iran is the third. So those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come I think, especially Russia and China because of their capability."
The Iranian regime, especially, is fully benefiting from this axis; it is selling weapons to Russia; selling oil and trading with Russia and China in spite of sanctions, and counting on Beijing and Moscow's support in the UN Security Council. As Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, surprisingly acknowledged to Iran's state-controlled Tasnim News:
If the US further pulls out of Asia, the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, Ukraine, Latin America -- anywhere -- the vacuum created will surely be filled by the new axis of China-Russia-Iran. A US pull-out is, most probably, just what they are hoping and waiting for.
If Putin sees any gains in Ukraine, China will try to seize Taiwan.
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