As negotiations between the US and Iran in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are on pause till next week, political experts believe that though China appears to be representing Iran’s demands, it may not side with Tehran at the end.

China has openly supported Iran saying the US should lift all sanctions inconsistent with the nuclear deal.

However, even though it appears like Russia and China are siding with Iran, things could change during the meeting in Vienna, an expert said.

What’s the issue?

The US and Iran kicked off indirect talks to resuscitate the 2015 nuclear deal on Monday.

Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the US, Russia, France, Germany, UK and China. The pact limited Tehran to civilian nuclear programmes in exchange for relief on economic sanctions from the US, EU and UN. Iran was not allowed to build an atomic bomb.

During US President Donald Trump’s tenure in 2018, the US had unilaterally withdrawn from the pact and imposed sanctions on Iran.

Iran has also breached the agreement by increasing its uranium stockpile to levels beyond that mentioned in the JCPOA.

After the election of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in June, talks had been suspended for five months, which led to suspicions that Iran was advancing its nuclear program while playing with time.

Tehran now wants all sanctions to be lifted, while the US wants Iran to comply with the JCPOA before any relief is given.

Who’s siding with whom?

Iran has been trying to win its own teammates within the group, while the US is also doing the same, Asif Shuja of the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute told CNBC.

“The positions of all these powers are not rigid, they may change,” Asif Shuja of the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute told CNBC, adding that it is still unclear which country is siding with whom.

China’s stance

China has openly supported Iran’s demand for relief in sanctions and blamed the US for the crisis. “The US, as the culprit of the Iranian nuclear crisis, should naturally remove all illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran and third parties including China,” Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Monday.

What the experts say

According to Shuja, the political alliance between Iran and China is not “rock solid". Russia and China along with other permanent members of United Nations Security Council had voted to impose sanctions on Tehran in 2006, he said.

“For Iran, Russia and China are most important. But if you look at it from Russia and China’s side, Iran is not the most important player,” he told CNBC.

Another expert Amir Handjani from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft told CNBC that Iran was using China and Russia “as a buffer against the EU and the US.”

(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)