China presses Iran to rein in Houthi attacks in Red Sea, sources say Parisa Hafezi and Andrew Hayley, Reuters, January 25, 2024
Dubai - Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said. "Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint'," said one Iranian official briefed on the talks. The Iranian sources said Beijing had made it clear it would be very disappointed with Tehran if any vessels linked to China were hit, or the country's interests were affected in any way. Chinese oil refiners bought over 90% of Iran's crude exports last year. Iranian oil, though, accounts for only 10% of China's crude imports, and Beijing has an array of suppliers that could plug shortfalls. China, as the world's biggest trading nation, is disproportionately affected by the shipping disruption. China is one of the few powers capable of providing the billions of dollars of investment Tehran needs to maintain the capacity of its oil sector. But some within Iran's ruling establishment have questioned the value of the partnership with Beijing. China and Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021. Iranian state media says Chinese firms have only invested $185 million since then. State media also said last year that Iranian non-oil exports to China fell 68% in the first five months of 2023 while Iran's imports from China rose 40%. -- Excerpted from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/china-presses-iran-rein-houthi-attacks-red-sea-sources-say-2024-01-26/ *Comment:* The facts here show up those "communists" who celebrate an expanded BRICS and the "Global South" as some huge progressive force against U.S. imperialism. Contending monopoly capitalists do not help the Palestinian people burning in the furnace of genocide, do not make the revolutionary cause of the world's workers any easier, and do not take the workers of China or Iran or Russia any closer to communism. – Charles Andrews ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B4K563P9/ ) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#28635): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/28635 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/103983574/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
