Epoch Times - How the CCP Is Reacting to Iran War | Robert Suettinger

March 16, 2026 - Epoch Times

01:34

How the CCP Is Reacting to Iran War | Robert Suettinger

Robert Suettinger argues the CCP utilizes Iran as a strategic distraction, keeping American focus on Middle Eastern instability while diverting attention from Pacific threats. Drawing on White House experience regarding "miraging steel" shipments and missile concerns, he asserts Beijing is willing to rearm Tehran to leverage global forces opposed to the U.S., effectively masking immediate dangers in East Asia through calculated geopolitical maneuvering. [Automatically generated summary]
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Distracting America From the Pacific 00:01:34
	One more thing about Iran.
	I've argued for years that part of the CCP's kind of, I would call it, utilitarian usage of Iran, okay, has been to distract America, to keep the American gaze on the Middle East and the instability there and the problems over there, as opposed to casting that gaze towards the Pacific and actually dealing with their biggest adversary.
	Your thoughts?
	I agree with that entirely.
	I started working in the White House when there were great concerns about the shipment of weapons of mass destruction and various kinds of steel, miraging steel or something like that, that was going to Iran at very sensitive times.
	And so this has been a concern of theirs all along.
	They've been happy to rearm Iran, and there was concern, I think maybe a very strong concern in the United States government about what kinds of missiles are going to be provided to Iran that they could use in local conflicts.
	We haven't seen any of that stuff that are sort of the things of nightmares, but it's got to be a concern for everybody.
	So they are perfectly happy to take advantage of forces in the world that are adamantly opposed to the United States and use them to their advantage and to keep the eyes off of the problems in East Asia that are, of course, of more immediate concern to them.

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Distracting America From the Pacific 00:01:34

One more thing about Iran.

I've argued for years that part of the CCP's kind of, I would call it, utilitarian usage of Iran, okay, has been to distract America, to keep the American gaze on the Middle East and the instability there and the problems over there, as opposed to casting that gaze towards the Pacific and actually dealing with their biggest adversary.

Your thoughts?

I agree with that entirely.

I started working in the White House when there were great concerns about the shipment of weapons of mass destruction and various kinds of steel, miraging steel or something like that, that was going to Iran at very sensitive times.

And so this has been a concern of theirs all along.

They've been happy to rearm Iran, and there was concern, I think maybe a very strong concern in the United States government about what kinds of missiles are going to be provided to Iran that they could use in local conflicts.

We haven't seen any of that stuff that are sort of the things of nightmares, but it's got to be a concern for everybody.

So they are perfectly happy to take advantage of forces in the world that are adamantly opposed to the United States and use them to their advantage and to keep the eyes off of the problems in East Asia that are, of course, of more immediate concern to them.