Chinese social media users watch war of words unfold between Iran and US
- The two embassies in Beijing traded barbs on Weibo as tensions rose following the killing of Qassem Soleimani
- While some Western outlets have censored posts supporting the late military commander, one observer said Beijing was happy to let the dispute play out to highlight its role as an ‘arbiter’
Chinese internet users have been watching US and Iranian diplomats trading insults on the social media platform Weibo as tensions between the two countries escalated following the US missile strike that killed senior military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, was killed in an air strike near Baghdad airport after Iranian-backed militias attacked the US embassy.
His death prompted mass anti-US protests in Iran and Iraq, while Tehran also retaliated with a missile attack on a US base.
While some Western social media outlets such as Facebook and Instagram were reported to have censored pro-Iranian posts to comply with US sanctions, Weibo – which is subject to China’s strict censorship regime – was happy to give the country’s diplomats free rein to make their case.
Three days after the January 3 missile strike that killed Soleimani, Iran’s embassy in Beijing posted a translation of a tweet from the country’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, addressed to Donald Trump.