Medford, April 13 -- "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."Napoleon Bonaparte's maxim may well have been in the minds of policymakers in Moscow and Beijing these past weeks, as the US war in Iran dragged on. And now that a 14-day ceasefire between Tehran and Washington is in effect - with both sides claiming "victory" - Russian and Chinese leaders still have an opportunity to profit from what many see as America's latest folly. Throughout the conflict, China and Russia struck a delicate balance. Both declined to give Iran, seen to a varying degree as an ally of both nations, their full-throated support or incur any real costs in the conflict. Instead, they opted for limited assistance in the form of small-scale intelligence and diplomatic support. For good reason. Beijing and Moscow were fully aware that Iran could not "win" against the combined military might of the US and Israel. Rather, Iran just needed to survive to serve the interests of Washington's main geopolitical rivals. Below are four ways in which the US war in Iran has damaged Washington's position in the great power rivalries of the 21st century. The US has long struggled to balance competing objectives in West Asia. The irony of the latest Iran war is that it follows a period in which circumstances were unfavourable to Russian and Chinese aims of increasing their influence in West Asia. The fall of Assad in December 2024 deprived Russia of its one reliable ally in the region. And Trump's May 2025 tour of the Gulf states, in which he secured major technology and economic deals with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain, was aimed at countering China's growing economic and diplomatic influence in those countries. With the US perceived as an increasingly unreliable protector, the Gulf states may seek greater security and economic cooperation elsewhere. In expanding military, diplomatic and economic ties in the Middle East, Russia and China over the past two decades were exploiting a desire by Washington to move its assets and attention away from the region following two costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump's decision to wage war against Iran directly contradicts the national security strategy his administration released in November 2025. In co-launching a war in Tehran with Israel, without any prior consultation with Washington's other allies, Trump has shown a complete disregard for their strategic and economic concerns. Nato has now shown further signs of internal divisions. That offers benefits for China and Russia. Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where some 20% of the world's oil passes, was as predictable as it was destructive for US interests. But for Russia, this meant higher oil prices that boosted its war economy. It also led to the temporary but ongoing easing of US sanctions, which has provided Moscow an indispensable lifeline after years of economic pressure over the war in Ukraine. The more the US loses control over events in the strait, the more it loses influence in the region - especially as Iran appears to be placing restrictions on ships. Trump's willingness to abandon talks to go to war and the contradictory rhetoric he has employed throughout the Iran conflict have weakened the perception of the US as an honest broker. That provides a massive soft power boost for Beijing. Indeed, China has slowly chipped away at America's longtime status as global mediator of first resort. In general, the war adds weight to Beijing's worldview that the US-led liberal international order is over....