WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he trusted China and Russia not to help Iran in the conflict with the U.S., but warned that if they did get involved “it would be very bad for them.”
“President Xi, at our recent meeting in Beijing, China, told me that he would not, under any circumstances, give or sell Weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran — And that statement included Chinese Companies,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said Putin had also told him that he would not sell weapons to Iran and that he believed Russia and China were not participating in the Iran conflict.
“If they did, it would be very bad for them — Certainly not in their best interests,” Trump posted.
Speaking to reporters later at the White House, Trump said he trusted both leaders.
“I don’t know that they’re enabling (Iran),” Trump said. “I think I trust them.”
The United States and Iran have been at war since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes in February, killing senior Iranian officials, including the country’s supreme leader.
Trump’s comments came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers earlier this week that Russia and China were involved in ways he would not specify.
“There are ways in which both of those countries are, at different levels, enabling some of the things Iran is doing, yes,” Hegseth said at a Senate hearing.
Four people familiar with U.S. intelligence said Iranian strikes on CIA targets in the Gulf earlier in the war had prompted U.S. intelligence to investigate whether Russia was assisting Iran with targeting information or drone technology. The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment on the report.
The United States has sanctioned individuals and companies in Russia and China for helping Iran buy weapons.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington, additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; editing by Michelle Nichols and Doina Chiacu)
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