Episode 91: Is the Iran war about China? A conversation with Melissa Chen

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Feb 18, 2026

Melissa Chen, managing director at Strategy Risks and former journalist on China and geopolitics, explains China’s hidden role in propping up Iran. She discusses Chinese tech exports that enable repression, Beijing’s strategic use of information operations, and how data and platforms reshape modern conflict. Short, urgent, and provocative insights into China’s expanding influence.

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INSIGHT

China as Iran's Strategic Lifeline

China is the primary economic guarantor of Iran, buying over 80% of its oil and bypassing sanctions.
This gives Beijing strategic leverage and keeps Tehran's regime and war machine afloat.

INSIGHT

China's Repression Tech Exported To Iran

China exports repression technologies and surveillance methods that Iran adopts to stifle protests.
These tools include internet blocking, facial recognition, gait analysis, and AI-driven censorship.

ADVICE

Use Leverage Or Undermine Iran Directly

Identify and leverage specific technological or economic dependencies China values to gain influence.
If Israel cannot influence China directly, weaken Iran enough that Chinese support becomes ineffective.

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In this episode, we confront a critical "blind spot" in the Israeli (and too often broader Western) consciousness: The role of the People’s Republic of China as the silent architect behind the Middle East’s most volatile threats. Guest Melissa Chen, managing director at Strategy Risks, pulls back the curtain on a sobering reality where China acts as the sole guarantor of Iran’s survival, bypassing global sanctions to fuel a regime that mirrors its own anti-Western ambitions.

From the export of advanced repression technologies that stifle domestic dissent in Tehran to the algorithmic amplification of antisemitism on platforms like TikTok, Chen argues that the "Axis of Resistance" is increasingly powered by Chinese infrastructure. Our conversation is a reflective warning on the nature of "unrestricted warfare," where the battlefield has shifted from kinetic borders to the granular data in our electric vehicles and the hearts and minds of a polarized West. It is a necessary, albeit chilling, look at how a regime thousands of miles away has become a central, malign actor in the survival of the Jewish state and the stability of the liberal world order.

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Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.