The Iran-China Honeymoon is Over

The Chinese raised a sore point for the Iranians at the summit in Saudi Arabia.

A lot has happened in recent days between Iran and China.

Iran reprimanded the Chinese ambassador, the Iranian Ermooz News (affiliated with the Reformists) wrote that Iran "can no longer trust the Chinese", and an Iranian opposition channel published a cartoon of Chinese President Xi Jinping ditching Iranian President Khamenei.

So, what lead to all of this?

The concluding statement of the Chinese-Arab summit which was held in Riyadh last weekend referenced (among other things) the three contested islands of
Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa (seized by Iran from the UAE shortly after its independence in 1971).

Situated at the heart of the Persian Gulf, the summit called to resolve the dispute on the strategically important islands between Iran and the UAE diplomatically. The Iranian are extremely possessive over these islands and view them as an integral part of Iran.