Dreading a ‘Snapback’ of Onerous Global Sanctions, Iran Sets Meetings With European as Well as Communist Chinese and Russian Officials

“If you don’t have the principal party in the room, the United States, that is the one that can deliver what the Iranians are looking for, which is sanctions relief, that sort of begs the question: What’s the point of this meeting?” the policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, Jason Brodsky, tells the Sun. . . . The Russian and Chinese “could refuse to abide by the restored UN Security Council resolutions,” Mr. Brodsky says. Yet, he adds, “there is a lot of mistrust and distrust between Russia and Iran and China.” As a former Iranian ambassador to Moscow, Nematollah Izadi, put it over the weekend, “if Russia were to choose between supporting us or Israel, it would undoubtedly choose Israel.” Beijing, meanwhile, maintains strong ties with Gulf Arab countries that oppose the Islamic Republic, which it would not want to risk, Mr. Brodsky notes. Even if Moscow and Beijing evade the reimposed sanctions, they will have a major effect. “It’s more political and psychological for the Iranians than anything else,” Mr. Brodsky says.