As Iran reels from its gravest threat in decades, its alliance with China, Russia and North Korea—an axis that has increasingly alarmed the U.S. and allies—is facing a vital test: Will its partners come to its aid? Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang could offer Iran crucial assistance to recover from the damage inflicted by U.S. and Israeli strikes on its nuclear program and arsenal of conventional weapons. That could deepen the alliance, sending a powerful signal for potential conflicts in Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and Eastern Europe.Indeed, the three powers helped Iran build the nuclear program that the U.S. and Israel have tried to destroy. The Isfahan facility, Iran’s largest nuclear-research complex and a prime target of the U.S. strikes, was built with Chinese assistance when it opened in 1984, according to the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative. Three small, Chinese-supplied research reactors operate there. North Koreans helped design the underground tunnels used in Iran’s nuclear sites. Moscow has said hundreds of Russian nuclear experts currently work inside Iran.
But China, Russia and North Korea don’t appear eager to rush to Iran’s side. A big reason: President Trump’s decision to insert the U.S. into Israel’s assault on Iran by striking the country’s nuclear facilities has made helping Tehran recover far riskier and more geopolitically fraught.

Full commentary : A Weakened Iran Poses an Alliance Test for China, Russia and North Korea.