Where Iran and China Intersect

It has been interesting to watch Iran's reaction to what is happening to the Uighurs in western China. As far as I know, Iran has said absolutely nothing. Iran sees itself as the leader of the Islamic world and the defender of Muslims everywhere. And yet when China repressed the Muslim Uighurs and sent in the military, Iran was silent. Could it be that Iran was unable to criticize China because it was doing the same thing to protesters in Tehran? The other consideration is that Iran has strong political and commercial (and maybe even military) ties with China. A cleric in Lebanon wrote, "How could China suppress the Muslims so violently and seek good relations with Muslim countries and sometimes dominate their markets?" The same thing is true of Sudan. The government sponsors the genocide of Muslims in Darfur and then sells oil to China even as it oppresses its Muslim population. But, at least, Sudan never claimed to be the spokesperson for all Muslims.