Yedioth Ahronoth: A Chinese warning prevented Iran from carrying out its threat to close the Hormuz Strait during the 12-day war with Israel
An Iranian affairs expert said that Tehran didn’t dare carry out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil shipments pass, during the 12-year war it waged against Israel.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Lisa Daftary, an expert on Iranian affairs, as saying that Tehran received a warning from China against closing the Strait of Hormuz, which threatens oil supplies to Beijing and undermines its energy security.
Daftary considered that Tehran’s compliance with Beijing’s warning indicates the Iranian regime’s growing weakness and isolation, and confirms its diminishing influence and shrinking international relations.
She added, “The Iranian regime is so isolated today that even its best friends, China and Russia, have offered it no assistance at all, and even Hezbollah, its pet project, to which it has gifted 150,000 missiles, has failed to come to its aid”.
Last week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied any disagreements with Iran, stressing that relations with Tehran exist, and that Beijing played a constructive role in reducing tensions.
