It appears we are having issues again, but I will try to post this anyway.

I started wondering what the relations were between Iran and China so I did some digging.

China–Iran relations

Diplomatic links between China and Iran have been maintained into the 20th and 21st centuries with the formation of both the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, in 1949 and 1979 respectively. The economic, cultural, and political ties are discussed below.

In fact after the JCPOA was signed in July 2015, China and Iran agreed to expand trade relations to $600 billion in ten years from January 2016, on the occasion when Xi Jinping paid Hassan Rouhani a state visit.[13] This constitutes an increase of over 1,000%.[14] The agreement was concordant with One Belt, One Road framework. A total of 17 agreements were signed, including one which relates to the Iran nuclear programme. The Chinese will help connect Tehran with Mashhad via their TGV technology.[15]

One of the main pillars of the relationship is oil and gas. China switched to petroleum primarily to move its energy supply from coal. There was a rapid increase in oil importation from 1974 into the 1990s.[16] In 2011, approximately 10% of China's oil imports were from Iran.[17] Approximately 80% of China's total imports from Iran are oil and the rest is mineral and chemical products. Because of this reliance on Iranian oil and gas, China is now investing in the modernization of Iran's oil and gas sector to secure access to the resource.[18] The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) was granted an $85 million contract to drill 19 wells in the natural gas fields in Southern Iran and signed another similar $13 million contract.[16] Then again in 2004, an agreement was reached where China would import 270 million tons of natural gas over 30 years from South Par fields which is the richest natural gas fields in the world for $70 billion. Another Chinese company, Sinopec Group, gets half-share in Yardarvaran oil fields worth about 100 billion for the purpose of exploration.[19] Later in 2007, CNPC signed a $3.6 billion deal to develop offshore gas fields in Iran and then signed another $2 billion contract to develop the northern Iranian oil field near Ahvaz.[18] Not only is China helping to develop the oil and gas sector, but China supports Iran's ambitions to bring Caspian Sea oil and gas to Southern Iranian ports through pipelines so the resources can be exported to Europe and Asia.[16] Iran relies upon its oil sales to China to ensure its fiscal well-being.[18] China also sells gasoline to Iran despite international pressures that have halted Iran's ability to get gasoline from other suppliers.[20]

China considers Iran a permanent partner for its exports and a source of its growing energy demand. In March 2004, Zhuhai Zhenrong Corporation, a Chinese state-run company, signed a 25-year contract to import 110 million metric tons of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Iran. This was followed by another contract between Sinopec and Iran LNG, signed in October of the same year. The deal, worth $100 billion, adds an extra 250 million tons of LNG to China's energy supply, to be extracted from Iran's Yadavaran field over a 25-year period. In January 2009, Iran and China signed a $1.76bn contract for the initial development of the North Azadegan oil field in western Iran. In March the two countries struck a three-year $3.39 billion deal to produce liquefied natural gas in Iran's mammoth South Pars natural gas field. Because of its limited refining capacity, Iran imports one-third of its refined products such as petrol from China.[21][22]

In 2011, the group Green Experts of Iran reported that Beijing and Tehran had signed an extensive deal that would give China exclusive rights to several Iranian oil and natural gas fields through 2024. Under the terms of the deal, Iran will give Chinese oil companies exclusive rights to three large regions of Iranian land as well as the rights to build all necessary infrastructure for these regions, all of which sit atop of large oil and natural gas fields. In return, China promises to treat any foreign attack against these regions as attacks against its own sovereign territory, and will defend them as such. China will have no need for prior permission from the Iranian government to maintain and increase its military presence in Iran, and will control the movement of Iranians in and out of these territories.[23] The Green Experts of Iran speculate that this agreement was the concrete basis for Major General Zhang Zhaozhong's statement that "China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War." [24]

China has been Iran's crude oil sink since the JCPOA was signed.[14][25] In 2017, 64% of an export total $16.9 billion with China was labelled "crude oil".[26]

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China–Iran_relations

There is more but I will let you read that on the link.

>>8099745

Lubricated With Oil: Iran-China Relations in a Changing World

China and Iran are emerging powers with increasingly significant political and economic relations that have regional and global dimensions. In this article, we set out to explore the historical roots, evolution and development of this relationship with a particular emphasis on the period since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Elsewhere, we have examined the role of factors such as the arms trade and technology transfers, and how they have shaped Sino-Iranian relations. However, in light of present economic and political trends, it is the pursuit of energy security and supply that is emerging as a more pressing concern for both states.

We will investigate several central questions. First, what are the incentives for these two otherwise ideologically opposed regimes to forge an increasingly expanding and cordial relationship — especially in the context of declining American political influence in the Middle East — and what does each side gain from this relationship? Second, how much weight is given to economic interests, especially the trade in energy, in facilitating closer relations between the two states? What are the dynamics of petropolitics in this relationship? Finally, in light of the different bilateral relationships the two countries have with the United States — China's expanding trade and political relations versus Iran's acrimonious relations — what are the limitations of their partnership? With respect to this point, we are interested in addressing the different circumstances in which China might perceive its relations with an increasingly isolated and nuclear-driven Iran as a political liability, and under what conditions Iran would be compelled to abandon its "Eastern strategy" and pull away from China. Both Iran and China's regional as well as global political ambitions pose a challenge to their bilateral relationship. Thus, we analyze a variety of circumstances under which their interests may clash, and we weigh them against the strategic objectives motivating their cooperation.

• https://mepc.org/lubricated-oil-iran-china-relations-changing-world

>>8099745

Iran - China Relations

China sees Iran as its main strategic partner in the region by virtue of Iran's geographic location, and by virtue of the fact that it is the only major power in the region which isn't allied with the United States. China was a top consumer of Iranian oil even during the three years of international sanctions that targeted Iran’s nuclear program. Now that the sanctions are lifted and Iran is ramping up oil production, that relationship could grow further. China had been Iran’s biggest trading partner in the six years since 2010. Bilateral trade in 2014 was around $52 billion, but dropped off in 2015 because of falling oil prices.

In July 2018 the US State Department said that countries buying Iranian oil should bring down to zero their Iranian crude imports by the time Washington re-imposes sanctions on Tehran on 04 November 2018. By early August 2018 Washington had failed to persuade China to reduce Iranian oil imports, which was damaging the Trump administration's efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic after the US exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. At the same time, China pledged not to increase purchases of Iranian crude amid concerns that Beijing would purchasing excess oil from Iran. Doing so would undermine Washington's push to isolate Tehran.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying underscored that Beijing is up in arms about unilateral US sanctions mechanisms and plans to keep trade ties with Iran in accordance with international agreements. "China and Iran unwaveringly maintain normal trade and economic ties. China will continue to cooperate with Iran adhering to its international obligations".

Iran has had relatively good relations with China, India, and Russia, particularly in the area of military cooperation. In the early 2000s, China emerged as an important trade partner in both imports and exports. Japan retained the position that it assumed in the mid1990s as Iran’s best export customer. Marybeth Davis noted in 2013 that "Over the past 30 years, China and Iran have developed an active but limited partnership, cooperating across a spectrum of political, security, and economic interests. They have travelled an uneven path together since the seminal year of 1979, which witnessed the revolutionary birth of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Republic of Iran and the evolutionary unfolding of the Reform and Opening Policy of Deng Xiaoping’s People’s Republic of China (PRC)."

As China’s modernizing defense industry was looking for export markets, Iran became a major purchaser of conventional Chinese-made weapons during the protracted Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s China’s most advanced industrial and defense technology programs, in nuclear energy and missile production, provided direct assistance to the Islamic Republic. After 2000 Iran continued to focus its arms imports on advanced weapons and missile technology. In the early 2000s, China reportedly developed several new types of tactical guided missiles, mainly for use on missile patrol boats, specifically for sale to Iran.

Iran’s oil and gas sector requires investment capital and technology, both in upstream development and downstream refining and distribution. Some Iranians were concerned that Iran would grow increasingly dependent on China for development financing as Western companies concede to international pressure and limit their business in Iran's energy sector. As a result, over the long-term Iran's oil sector will suffer. China's work is subpar and does not meet Western or international standards.

Although Chinese companies were increasingly active in Iran, by 2010 their activities had been limited to smaller projects like Masjid-e-Suleyman oil field because the Chinese have yet to develop and master the technology required for larger and more complex projects, such as North Azadegan and Yadaveran. China was using its smaller, cheaper projects, such as the development of Masjed-e-Suleyman (valued at less than USD 200 million), as "practice" as they develop their own technology and techniques.

After years of working with the West, Iranians found it difficult to relate to the Chinese. Language barriers impeded communication with Chinese workers, greatly complicating joint ventures and technology transfers. Moreover, Chinese companies reportedly often insist on using their own labor, meaning the projects do not bring jobs to Iranians. However, Iran had no choice but to work with China. In some cases awarded tenders to Chinese companies over Iranian ones because of the cheaper bids, in effect sacrificing quality for price.

• https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/forrel-prc.htm

>>8099745

China and Iran

Economic, Political, and Military Relations

Over the past few decades, China and Iran have developed a broad and deep partnership centered on China's energy needs and Iran's abundant resources as well as significant non-energy economic ties, arms sales and defense cooperation, and geostrategic balancing against the United States. This partnership presents a unique challenge to U.S. interests and objectives. In particular, China's policies have hampered U.S. and international efforts to dissuade Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. This paper examines factors driving Chinese-Iranian cooperation, potential tensions in the Chinese-Iranian partnership, and U.S. policy options for influencing this partnership to meet U.S. objectives. The authors conclude that the U.S. ability to fundamentally reshape China's relationship with Iran is fairly limited, but that the United States should continue to forestall an Iranian nuclear weapons capability and pressure China to reduce ties to Iran.

Key Findings

Chinese-Iranian Economic and Energy Cooperation

Over the past several years, China has become Iran's number one oil customer and trading partner.

China has provided Iran with the technological know-how to develop its energy resources. Chinese engineers have also built bridges, dams, railroads, and tunnels throughout Iran.

Chinese-Iranian Strategic and Defense Cooperation

China has aided Iran's efforts to modernize its military hardware and doctrine through the transfer of military technology and sales of small arms and tactical ballistic and antiship cruise missiles.

China has assisted in the development of Iran's nuclear program via the transfer of technology and machinery.

China's economic ties to Iran have shielded the Iranian regime from the effects of international sanctions.

The Nature of the Chinese-Iranian Relationship

Chinese-Iranian relations are rooted in both countries' having authoritarian regimes and historical narratives that characterize the international system as unjust and dominated by Western powers.

The Iranian regime views China as a potential ally against the United States, and Beijing views Iran as a potential partner for limiting U.S. influence in the Middle East.

The foundations of the economic partnership between Iran and China are Iran's abundant energy resources and China's growing energy needs, but China is not overwhelmingly dependent on the Islamic Republic for its energy needs; in contrast, the Iranian regime now depends on China as its chief diplomatic protector.

Despite their energy cooperation, trade, and shared geopolitical interests, Iran and China have potentially divergent interests on a number of issues.

Recommendation

The U.S. ability to fundamentally reshape China's relationship with Iran is fairly limited, but the United States should continue to forestall an Iranian nuclear weapons capability and pressure China to reduce ties to Iran.

• https://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP351.html

>>8099754

It sorta works, running kinda slow, but yeah so far it seems to be working although I have both clearnet and Tor open.

>>8099745

China and Iran: a relationship built on trade, weapons and oil

Beijing supplied military hardware to Tehran in the Iran-Iraq war and has been among its top three arms suppliers in the past decade

China remains Iran’s top trade partner, but oil imports slumped after US sanctions

Amid its long-running conflict with the US, Iran has increasingly turned to China for aid to boost its military and to help protect its economy from trade sanctions imposed by Washington.

The strong ties between Beijing and Tehran have been evident in recent days as tensions have risen in the Middle East, triggered by the killing of Iran’s top military chief Qassem Soleimani by the US in Iraq. Tehran responded with a missile attack on US forces in Iraq.

China’s envoy to Iran, Chang Hua, has said Beijing remained committed to its partnership with Tehran. Zhai Jun, China’s special representative for the Middle East, visited Tehran for a security dialogue on Monday and Tuesday, when he said some “external nations” were stirring provocations, without naming the US.

China remains Iran’s biggest trading partner, but its oil imports from the country have fallen sharply as a result of US sanctions. In November 2019, the last available data, China imported 547,758 tonnes of Iranian oil, down from 3.07 million tonnes in April, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. Trade between China and Iran in 2018 totaled US$35.13 billion, with crude oil accounting for about half, or US$15 billion.

In 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled out of an agreement aimed at curtailing Iran’s nuclear development programme and reimposed crippling sanctions on its economy.

• https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3045253/china-and-iran-relationship-built-trade-weapons-and-oil

>>8099745

China, Iran to forge closer ties due to common threat from United States, analysts say

23 May, 2019

Beijing remains keen to resolve its trade war with Washington but stronger economic relations with Tehran seem inevitable, observers say

Foreign ministers from China and Iran met in Beijing on Friday

Closer cooperation between China and Iran, especially on economic matters, is inevitable given they are both now targets of rising US antagonism, analysts said.

Washington has become increasingly aggressive in its tone towards Tehran in the past year, with President Donald Trump warning Tehran on Sunday that: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!”

Pentagon officials are expected to brief national security officials on Thursday on a plan to send an extra 10,000 US troops to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, which is a major oil exporter.

Meanwhile, the US remains locked in a trade war with China, with both countries ramping up tariffs on each other’s goods after negotiations aimed at resolving the 10-month dispute faltered early this month.

-https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3011573/china-iran-forge-closer-ties-due-common-threat-united-states

Now, factor in certain EU entities that pushed for the Iran deal. It seems to me that Iran might be a great place to launder all that money that China seems to be throwing around these days in its efforts to corrupt world leaders.

Been doing a little theorizing after watching some more Rudy and Glen Beck.

It would seem that Obummer was fighting a secret war against Russia, so logical question would be, why?

What if, it was to protect their fun and games racketeering in Ukraine? He sent them blankets? Not much of a war. Why blankets, that's not much help. So if Becks theory is right, they funneled money to the oligarch and he bought arms probably from an arms dealer. Who is, or was rather, one of the biggest arms dealer? Khashoggi.

Now, think back to Libya and the annex attack. They were supposedly running weapons right? If I remember right, they were headed for Turkey. Turkey, isn't that far from…Ukraine, especially if you just put stuff on a boat and cross the black sea.

Were those weapons destined to go to Ukraine as part of the arming of Ukraine through the oligarch?