by Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Craig Roberts:

As I have emphasized, Russia and China are behind the eight ball.  Russia is dependent on Iran to prevent the CIA funneling jihadists into the Russian Federation and the former Soviet Central Asian republics.  China has energy dependence and energy investments in Iran and doesn’t want a repeat loss like the one Washington imposed on China in Libya.  Yet these two superpowers have not conveyed to Washington that Iran is off limits.  The most certain way of deterring a dangerous escalation is an immediate announcement by Russia, China, and Iran of a joint security alliance in which an attack on one is an attack on all.