Russia and Iran only retain viable economies because of Chinas ongoing support both in buying their oil and gas and enabling trade payments. Remember China is the only member of the IMFs reserve currency board that is not both monetarily and militarily subservient to the USA and China has for over a decade ignored US sanctions against Iran and now Russia. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/russia-and-china-unveil-a-pact-against-america-and-the-west https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/world/middleeast/china-iran-deal.html China gets discount oil and gas while enabling Russia and Iran to attack Ukraine and Israel which in turn costs the west billions. A successful proxy war strategy on Chinas part in the ongoing contest for global resource and trade payments hegemony that is now intensifying. USD vs CBDC Yuan vs BTC