Iran war looms over Trump’s China visit

A US-Israeli war in Iran looms on the horizon amid US President Donald Trump’s visit to China, as signs emerge that the conflict is changing alliances in the Middle East.

Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday ahead of talks with President Xi Jinping that begin Thursday.

He is expected to seek China’s help in resolving the costly and unpopular conflict he launched in late February, but analysts say he is unlikely to get the support he seeks.

New reports on Wednesday highlighted how the Iran war is accelerating geopolitical realignment in the region.

Israel announced that Prime Minister Netanyahu secretly traveled to the United Arab Emirates in March to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, resulting in a “historic breakthrough” in Israel’s relations with the UAE.

The two countries re-established ties in 2020 under the Trump-backed Abraham Accords, but relations strengthened after the UAE came under attack from Iran.

Separately, Reuters reported that Saudi warplanes bombed Iran-backed militias in Iraq; this was part of a broader pattern of military responses involving Gulf states during the war that remained secret.

Sources said that retaliatory attacks were also launched from Kuwait to Iraq.

Tehran, meanwhile, has tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, which provided a fifth of the world’s oil supply before the war, and cut deals with Iraq and Pakistan to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the region, according to people familiar with the matter.

Iranian officials pointed out that they see this control as a long-term strategic goal. Control of the waterway could generate revenue twice as much as Iran’s oil revenue and also strengthen its foreign policy influence, a military spokesman said.

“After this war is over, there will be no place to retreat,” the spokesman said, quoted by the ISNA news agency.

More than a month after a tenuous ceasefire took effect, U.S. and Iranian demands to end the war remain far apart.

While Washington called on Tehran to cancel its nuclear program and lift its control over the strait, Iran demanded compensation for war damage, an end to the US blockade and a halt to wars on all fronts, including Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. Trump called these positions “garbage.”

The conflict is dealing a heavy blow to global energy markets.

Global oil supplies will fall by about 3.9 million barrels per day in 2026, falling short of demand due to disruptions caused by the Iran war, with more than a billion barrels of Middle East supply already lost, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

The Trump administration said Tuesday that senior U.S. and Chinese officials agreed last month that no country could charge fees for traffic in the region, in an effort to reach consensus on the issue ahead of the summit.

China, which is a major buyer of Iranian oil and maintains close ties with Tehran, did not object to this statement.

On Wednesday, a Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz; Ship tracking data marked the third known passage of a Chinese oil tanker through the canal since the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28.

Sources said other countries are also exploring shipping arrangements similar to those Tehran has with Iraq and Pakistan, potentially solidifying Tehran’s control over the waterway through which fertilizers, petrochemicals and other bulk goods vital to global supply chains normally flow.

Iran has demanded security guarantees for Lebanon as part of its proposal to end the war.

However, despite the ceasefire declared through the USA last month, Israel continued to attack Hezbollah.

Israeli airstrikes on cars in Lebanon killed 12 people, including two children, on Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Security sources said some of the attacks targeted vehicles on the coastal road south of Beirut, well beyond the main conflict area in the south.

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