- Iran is in a lot of trouble
- Nothing China has done has changed the trajectory of the conflict with Iran
- In fact, in some cases China has been cooperative on Iran situation
- Would love to reach a diplomatic settlement with Iran
As for other related remarks:
- Talked a lot with Wang about Xi’s planned trip to the US
- Both sides have differences but the job is to manage that
- There are areas of potential cooperation
- Disagrees with China’s activities on Taiwan
- But important to talk to China irrespective of all the differences
- Discussed trade among other things
For some context, Rubio mentioned this about Iran just before the meeting:
“The problem we’re having right now is that they’re not serious about talks. If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies.”
In essence, the US is pointing the finger to Iran while also adding that Tehran in no way should be allowed control over the Strait of Hormuz. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is what it is.
As mentioned before, control over the strait remains Iran’s biggest leverage over the US at the moment. As such, there is no plausible scenario in which Iran will just give up control of that without a fight – let alone from talks alone.
As much as the US wants Iran to cooperate, the fact of the matter is that both sides have key red lines that they simply will not move on. And that means Iran will just continue to stick to the playbook of buying more time and kicking the can down the road.
In the case of the US, I can’t imagine them being too forceful about the whole situation and wanting to engage in a full scale war. That especially with midterm elections coming up. It will just be a bad spin on the optics for Trump and his administration.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.
