Russia and China, Tehran’s two most powerful diplomatic partners, have labelled the US-Israeli war on Iran that has killed more than 1,000 people a clear violation of international law.
President Vladimir Putin called the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday a “cynical violation of all norms of human morals”.
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China’s Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that “force cannot truly solve problems” as he urged all sides to avoid further escalation.
Russia and China jointly requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
The reaction reflects the close relationship between Iran, Russia, and China. Moscow and Beijing have signed bilateral deals and expanded coordination through joint naval drills, projecting a united front against what they describe as a US-led international order that has long sought to isolate them.
Yet despite their sharp rhetoric, neither has indicated a willingness to intervene militarily to support Iran.
Russia-Iran: Strategic partners, not military allies
In January 2025, Russia and Iran signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty covering areas from trade and military cooperation to science, culture, and education.
The agreement deepened defence and intelligence coordination and supported projects such as transport corridors, linking Russia to the Gulf through Iran.
The pair carried out joint military drills in the Indian Ocean as recently as late February, the week before the US and Israel attacked Iran.
However, when the war began, Moscow was not obliged to respond as the treaty did not include a mutual defence clause, meaning it stopped short of forming a formal military alliance.
Andrey Kortunov, the former director general of the Russian International Affairs Council and a member of the Valdai Discussion Club, a Russian foreign policy think tank, told Al Jazeera via videolink from Moscow, that Russia’s 2024 mutual defence treaty with North Korea is an example of a “more binding” agreement on military support.
He said that, under that agreement, Russia would be obliged to join North Korea “in any conflict the country might get involved in”, whereas with Iran, “it just mentioned that both sides agreed to abstain from any hostile actions in case the other side is engaged in conflict”.
Kortunov said Russia is unlikely to take direct military action in support of Iran because the risks would be too high.
He added that Moscow appears to be “prioritising the United States mediation in the conflict with Ukraine”, and noted that Russia has previously taken a similar approach by criticising US actions in places like Venezuela after the US military attack and arrest of its President, Nicolas Maduro, in January.
Although the treaty clearly states that Russia is not obliged to intervene, he said some of his contacts in Tehran have expressed a “degree of frustration”, and there had been an “expectation that Russia should somehow do more than just diplomatic moves in the United Nations Security Council or in other multilateral forums”.
Members of the Iranian Army attend the joint Navy exercise of Iran and Russia in southern Iran [Handout via Iranian Armed Forces/WANA/Reuters]
China–Iran ties and their limits
In 2021, China and Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement aimed at expanding ties in areas such as energy, while also drawing Iran into China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Jodie Wen, a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Tsinghua University in China, who has travelled frequently to Iran, told Al Jazeera that the relationship is widely viewed in Beijing as pragmatic and stable.
“From the political side, we have regular exchange,” she said over the phone from Beijing, adding, “on the economic side, the cooperation is very deep; many enterprises have investments in Iran.”
Yet she stressed that Beijing has long drawn clear limits around the partnership, particularly regarding military involvement.
“The Chinese government always adheres to not interfering in other countries’ issues … I do not think the Chinese government would send weapons to Iran,” she said.
Instead, Beijing’s role is more likely to focus on diplomacy and crisis management.
“I think China is trying its way to talk with the US side and Gulf countries to keep calm,” she said.
That clarity about the relationship, she added, has helped build trust in Tehran.
Even so, she noted the relationship is not symmetrical.
Vessel-tracking service Kpler estimates that 87.2 percent of Iran’s annual crude oil exports go to China, underscoring how economically significant China is for Tehran, while Iran remains a relatively small partner in China’s global trade.
Dylan Loh, an associate professor in the Public Policy and Global Affairs programme at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told Al Jazeera that he believes China’s role regarding Iran “has evolved into a protective one, accelerating its mediation effort to prevent a regional collapse that would threaten its own regional economic and security interests”.
“I think there will be some assessment of how to lower the political risks and what sorts of options are available; truth be told, this re-think already started after [the US attack on] Venezuela,” he said.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton said of Nygren on Sky Sports: “What a strange player. He can go missing in midfield but comes up with goals.”
Just as well given Daizen Maeda is still looking like a shadow of the player who lit up Scottish football last season, January loan signings Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu have yet to fully impress and Kelechi Iheanacho has disappeared from view despite his return from injury.
Nygren is not one of the title winners Tierney talked about in Celtic’s squad, but the 24-year-old Sweden midfielder is doing more than most to make sure he gets that league winners’ medal.
Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan enthused on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound: “The impact substitutes you’ve seen at the weekend, you’ve seen it again tonight with Benjamin Nygren and James Forrest linking up.
“Lovely tee-up from Forrest and Nygren just finishes – we’ve seen that time and time again and he’s had a real impact in this team.”
Indeed, Nygren has found the net three times and provided one assist in his latest four Premiership games – and his 15 goals are more than any other Celtic player in the league this season.
“I know Nygren gives up certain parts of the game, but what he does do is he gets into the box and gets on the end of things,” Allan said.
“I felt his overall play in the game was really good, played some lovely through balls, always looked like he was going to be a threat round about that 18-yard box and he was the difference again tonight.”
His manager was similary enthusiastic.
“He’s doing something that is the most difficult thing in the game – to score goals -and he’s popped up again with what proved to be the winning goal,” O’Neill said.
“Substitutes in recent weeks have made big contributions to us, so that’s important for us.”
ANNA and Mandi Vakili admit they’re desperate to reveal their boyfriends’ identities after years of using nicknames to keep them secret.
The Sisters in the City podcast hosts’ other halves have been shielded from the public eye, with Anna referring to her man as ‘Cowslick’ while Mandi’s fella is known as ‘Gingerbeard’.
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Anna and Mandi Vakili might soon reveal their boyfriends’ identitiesCredit: Adored ByAnna has nicknamed her man ‘cowslick’Credit: Instagram
Neither had any say in the moniker they were given, and the girls admit they hate them.
But it might just be a matter of time before the pseudonyms are discarded.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Anna, 35, says: “I’m just so ready to put his face out there now.
“I just feel like this whole hiding his face has become such a long and annoying… like my poor editor has to keep blurring his face out in the YouTube vlogs and I want to take cute pictures with him and put it on my Instagram and I can’t do that, so I’m like maybe I’m past the stage of hiding his face.
Mandi, 34, adds: “I feel like the nickname though is kind of a comedic side of it and it’s stuck now. I love my boyfriend having a nickname. It just makes all of the serious stuff a little less serious when I’m calling him Gingerbeard.”
Chiming back in, Anna says: “But the only problem I have is that my boyfriend hates his nickname Cowslick, he’s really like recently he’s trying to like protest against his nickname.”
Her sister playfully jokes: “He has no choice though, he’s got no legal rights.”
It was four years ago that the girls came up with the names as they launched their podcast, which has grown massively and now has 108,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Initially, it was the boyfriends who were desperate to avoid any mention on the pod, and that was before listening figures began to soar.
They settled on the names to highlight parts of their appearance that differed from one another.
There have been ups and downs in Anna’s on/off relationship during that time, which she admits has had “toxic” moments, though things are currently going smoothly.
Last week, she bravely shared her most personal story to date, revealing she suffered a miscarriage just days after discovering she was pregnant. It was met by widespread support and praise from listeners who were moved by the story, as was Mandi beside her sibling in the studio.
Meanwhile, Mandi’s relationship has been stable throughout, with the odd bicker coming on holiday or off the back of pranks and other media appearances.
Reflecting on the early days of the podcast and deciding how much personal information to share, Anna says: “At the beginning there was arguments,” says Anna.
Mandi continues: “When it was like we were becoming really popular and everyone was starting to know that we’re talking, their friends and their community, then they were causing a scene about ‘we don’t want to be talked about’, and now are they have given up. They accept it now.”
Mandi has nicknamed her man ‘Gingerbeard’Credit: InstagramThe sisters have released their own brow and lip edit with Adored ByCredit: InstagramTheir Sisters in the City podcast has 108,000 YouTube subscribers
She continues: “I’ve been thinking about this reveal, but it needs to be major. You know what, I thought about a really good reveal would be like come to our next tour because we’re going to do a Gingerbeard and Cowslick reveal on stage and sell tickets at the same time.”
While their other halves’ faces might be under wraps for now, Mandi and Anna’s certainly aren’t.
The duo have teamed up with Adored.by to create their own brow and lip edit so fans can replicate their flawless aesthetic.
The new range follows a previous release with beauty influencer Lottie Tomlinson, which the girls were a big fan of.
Anna says: “We liked how they tailor the collection to the influencer so it’s not like we just put our name on the product. It’s inspired by us, our podcast, our personality, our makeup looks, so it’s just literally us in a makeup brand.”
Mandi says: “We knew it was going to be like really unique and it wasn’t going to be the same as other ranges they do because they want influencers to create an edit which reflects them and their brand so that’s what Adored by has done with us right now.
“All of the products, the shade, the names, all of them have been chosen and tailored by us, so it’s really exciting.”
She called the importance of good brows and lips “game-changing” an said it could take a 10 out of 10 looker down to a two if not styled correctly, and vice versa.
The girls were committed to putting out products that they personally use and this is reflected in their combo kits.
Mandi says: “We chose shades that we love, you know there are so many shades and everybody likes a different shade but we chose Anna’s lip kit, my lip kit, is our sort of go-to and we always get asked like what’s your lip combo?
She continues: “They say men always notice a woman’s lips so lips are very important.”
But perfection isn’t the goal for the girls, it’s rather about feeling comfortable in your appearance whatever the situation or style.
Anna says: “I feel because of our podcast we’re quite relaxed attitude, because like what’s perfect? I think like that’s so like old news now, people like to relate to people that are real.”
“We love glamming up, we love doing our makeup but we’re in tracksuits on podcast.”
Mandi says: “When you do a podcast you’re just sort of in like an environment, you’re in a kind of dynamic where we’re sitting on a sofa gossiping together, we’re not like catwalk supermodels.
“People want to see the real us, they don’t want to see perfect looking two girls, they just want to see like two real people, but I feel like there’s a balance between being content with how you look but also wanting to glam up and do your makeup, put your heels on and get going.
“At the moment we’re just adorned by Adored By, you know, so we’re really excited about the launch and showing everyone how we do our lips and brows with these products.”
Anna and Mandi have collaborated with Adored.by on the newest makeup edit now available to shop onwww.adoredby.com
The sisters’ edit is inspired by their big personalitiesCredit: Adored By
The crime thriller centres on three female forensic experts – Emma Hedges (portrayed by Molly Windsor), Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) and Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence) as they piece together evidence in a murder investigation and secure a conviction.
Traces unfolds in and around Dundee, though viewers might find it intriguing that most of the BBC production was actually shot in Bolton, Manchester.
Created by Val McDermid and Amelia Bullmore, the drama tracks Emma Hedges, a laboratory technician returning to her native Dundee for a fresh position.
Beyond her professional duties, she harbours a personal quest to uncover the truth surrounding her mother’s killing.
Initially broadcast on Alibi, both series subsequently transferred to BBC One, with the final episode of the 12-part run transmitted in 2024.
Fraser portrays Sarah Gordon, a Chemistry professor at the University of Tayside who becomes Emma’s superior at SIFA.
Spence takes on the role of Kathy Torrence, a forensic anthropology professor at the University of Tayside and fellow SIFA colleague.
Viewers flocked to IMDb to express their opinions on the programme, with craigpetterson noting: “Set in Dundee, Scotland, great performances by the cast. Keeps the viewer hooked until the end.”
They added: “Congratulations to Alibi for commissioning and producing such a high quality production in Scotland.”
Barryrd enthused: “I was glued to Britbox watching the first season of this highly enjoyable show. This great drama consisted of several episodes and showed how a young woman, who lost her mother as a child, struggled valiantly to find out the truth of her mother’s death.
“The story had me transfixed to my screen and highlighted the science of forensics which is such a fascinating part of solving crimes in the 21st century.”
Bella-10103 praised the series as “addictive”, adding: “Binged watched this over a couple of days, absolutely loved Traces.”
Lyninbyron summed up: “I binge watched in one day. I had to! Riveting story, great cast but missed quite a bit of the dialogue due to fast, garbled lines.
“That said, I rate it a 10 for being excellently written. Series two please, can’t wait. Congratulations to all involved.”
Traces is currently airing on NOW.
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