Trump says he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran 'at all'

US President Donald Trump said late on Monday that he did not believe China and Russia were helping Iran in the war, arguing that both countries had “too much to lose” by supporting Tehran.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had seen comments from his critics and opponents claiming that Beijing and Moscow were assisting Iran.

“If they are, it's at a very low level, but I don't believe they are at all. They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast,” he wrote.

In July, Trump said he trusted China and Russia not to help Tehran in the war, warning that any involvement would be “very bad for them”.

The US and Iran have been at war since February 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf states hosting US military bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands of people and displaced millions.

Trump has previously described Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “neutral” in the conflict.

Moscow and Beijing maintain close ties with Tehran. Russia has warned that the war could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, while China has condemned Washington's attacks on Iran as a brazen violation of the country's sovereignty.

Last month, Trump warned Xi against providing support to Iran during the Chinese leader's visit to Washington. The US ambassador to China said at the time that Beijing had assured Washington it would not provide such assistance.

The warning followed reports that China had supplied Iran with shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers and helped Tehran find ways to evade sanctions on its oil sales.

In September, Trump dismissed a report that Iran had obtained satellite images of a military base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack there in July that killed three US troops.