Fulvio Scaglione, a senior correspondent for the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire and other publications, warned that the nuclear proliferation narrative is a cover story and Israel’s attack against Iran aims at sabotaging the Belt and Road Initiative.
“Essentially, this involves two operations,” Scaglione wrote: “Breaking the economic-military axis between Russia and Iran, which in recent years has materialized with the supply of Iranian drones, the construction by Rosatom of two new nuclear reactors for the Bushehr power plant (and Putin has announced an agreement with Israel to secure the 200 Russian technicians), and the North-South Trade Corridor project. And to block the economic channel between Iran and China, which carries 15% of the oil consumed by Beijing from Tehran to the East, while a few weeks ago the direct railway line between Xi’an and Aprin [dry port in near Tehran, Iran] was inaugurated, capable of transforming Iran into an alternative commercial hub. In essence, to undermine the political presence of the two giants in the Middle East, which has now become cumbersome.”
A post on the “Lettera da Mosca” Telegram channel, whose editor in chief is Scaglione, reads (in translation):
“The first Israeli missiles arrived in Iran almost simultaneously with the launch of the new railway line from China to Iran. The first train from Xi’an arrived at the Iranian hub of Aprin on May 25, 2025. This route was established in 2021, immediately after Iran and China signed a strategic agreement worth approximately $400 billion. The project is simple: Products from China now arrive in Iran by land, bypassing U.S. spheres of influence, military bases, and sanctions. Iran not only receives supplies but also acquires the role of a key transit hub connecting:
