OPINION:
The vacuum created by President Obama’s withdrawal of American forces from Iraq continues to be filled by the new Middle Eastern powers of Iran and Russia. Now Iran is pushing China to join the party.
“China can significantly help the regional peace and stability by becoming more active in the fight against the Islamic State,” said Mohsen Rezaei, who has the title of Secretary of the Expediency Council, after meeting members of a Chinese delegation in Tehran, reports the Jerusalem Post. Iran is widely credited for convincing Russia to start its military intervention in Syria and join the fight against the Islamic State.
China has its own Muslim problem with members of its western regions joining the Islamic State as fighters. Social unrest is the thing China fears the most. This interaction with the Iranian government in Tehran seems like a scripted invitation for China to move forces into the Middle East to join the new Iranian, Russian hegemony in the region. Soon, Chinese military commanders could be sitting alongside Russian and Iranian military in American built command posts in Iraq.
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