mardi 3 mars 2026
(Il y a deux cibles dans cette guerre l'Iran et la Chine, eh oui pèpère, si tu veux garder ton partenaire, il faut s'impliquer plus et même directement. note de rené)
China Panics, Urges Ceasefire To Reopen Strait Of Hormuz As Beijing Is Addicted To Cheap Iranian Crude
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at Tuesday's regular press briefing in Beijing that all parties in the Iran conflict must ensure the safe transit of commercial shipping through the critical maritime energy chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz.
"China urges all parties to immediately cease military operations, avoid escalating tensions, and safeguard the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," spokeswoman Ning said.
We've briefed readers that China is heavily exposed to cheap Iranian crude exports. About 80% of Iran's oil exports - about 1.6 million barrels per day - go to China.
This means Beijing will do everything in its power to preserve this lifeline and remove any blockage in Hormuz.
And this.
Chinese officials have reportedly been pressing Iran not to disrupt tanker traffic, damage Qatari gas exports, or hit major export hubs, according to Bloomberg.
The latest AIS shipping tracking data via Bloomberg shows the Strait of Hormuz remains paralyzed, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander threatening fire and destruction to any ship that transits the narrow waterway.
Our latest reporting shows that a day after a reported Iranian drone strike forced Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery offline, there are numerous reports of drone strikes on critical Gulf energy infrastructure on Tuesday morning (read report).
We highly recommend that readers review a report titled "The Iran Question Is All About China" to better understand that this conflict extends well beyond Iran.
Looking ahead, top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are expected to meet in mid-March, according to Bloomberg, ahead of a planned Trump-Xi summit later this month. Trump's moves against Venezuela and now Iran can be viewed as an effort to tighten pressure on two of Beijing's cheap crude supplies before those talks (that's if those talks don't get canceled).
US B-2 Bombers Belatedly Authorized To Use British Bases To Hit Deep Inside Iran
In the modern era Britain has always been America's junior partner when it comes to launching Middle East wars, and so in the opening days of Trump's Operation Epic Fury targeting Iran, there was anger in Washington as the Starmer government appeared to waffle and was fence sitting.
However by Monday and Tuesday, the United Kingdom is as expected now aligning directly with Washington, having belatedly authorized the use of British military bases to support American operations targeting Iran's missile capabilities.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer approved the request after a 24-hour legal review, granting Washington access to UK bases for what he called a "specific and limited defensive purpose."
"The only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source, in their storage depots or the launchers which are used to fire the missiles," Starmer said in a social media statement. "The U.S. has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request."
The bases will likely be used for US B-2 bombers to reach deep inside Iran. In the opening waves of attacks Saturday, these same B-2s were flying all the way from airbases in the US mainland.
Starmer likely got political cover in the fact that regional bases where British troops are stationed have come under Iran's intense retaliatory strikes.
This included a drone strike late Sunday on the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, which may have actually been launched by Iran-allied Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Starmer was apparently worried about the 'legal status' of the US-led operation, but now the British government has definitively stated the action is "solely focused on ending the threat of air and missile attacks against regional allies unlawfully attacked by Iran and who have not been involved in hostilities from the outset."
Still, London is taking pains to say this "does not signal the U.K. having any wider involvement in the broader ongoing conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran."
President Trump has wanted much more direct involvement in military action by Britain:
But like with other regional wars of the past couple decades it's likely only a matter of time before Britain jumps in more fully into the conflict. The Brits have been involved in everything from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya to Syria in recent years, especially going to back to the chummy Blair-Bush days just after 9/11.
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