As air raid sirens remain quiet, Israelis and Iranians are looking to repair the damage that was done during the 12-day war in June of this year. For now, the ceasefire between the two enemies seems to be holding. Support from the West played a key role in Israel’s success. In contrast, Iran had no support from its partners such as Russia or China, highlighting the shortcomings of these transactional relationships. While only a brief engagement, the war demonstrated the limits of alliances among authoritarian states.
The support that Israel receives from Western allies, the U.S. in particular, is no secret. Germany’s new chancellor Friedrich Merz went so far as to praise Israel after the recent campaign for doing the “dirty work” for other countries.
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In contrast, Iran remained alone, despite its close relations with countries such as Russia and its previously formidable Axis of Resistance proxies across the region. Before the war, the capabilities of Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis had been seriously degraded, which coincided with the ousting of the Iran-aligned Assad regime in Syria. Israel in fact openly suggested that the collapse of the Axis of Resistance was one of the key factors that played into the decision to launch the attack. In addition, Tehran’s international partners such as Russia have offered very little support, despite Russia recently signing a strategic partnership with the country. Moscow made clear that the “treaty does not mean the establishment of a military alliance with Iran or mutual military assistance.” China limited its reaction to condemning Israel and calling for peace.
Collaboration between autocracies has certainly been growing, but the trend is driven primarily by self-interest and self-preservation. For example, Iran and China help Russia circumvent economic sanctions not…