
PZ
957 posts




China is playing three roles simultaneously in the Iran war and none of them are compatible with the others. Role one: mediator. China’s Special Envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, has been touring the Gulf since the second week of the conflict. He has met counterparts in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Tehran. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called every relevant foreign minister in the region. Beijing has called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned US strikes as violations of international law and the UN Charter. China voted for UN Security Council Resolution 2817 condemning Iranian attacks on Gulf states but abstained on the US-sponsored resolution authorising force, preserving its position as the only major power with open channels to both sides. Role two: strategic opportunist. China maintains approximately 1.2 billion barrels in strategic petroleum reserves, the largest in Asia and possibly the world. Bloomberg reported that drawdowns of up to one million barrels per day are expected over four to six weeks. China is not releasing these barrels to stabilise global markets. It is releasing them to sustain domestic consumption while global prices remain elevated, preserving its industrial output at the expense of depleting buffers it spent a decade building. The releases are self-directed. They serve Chinese factories, not global stability. Role three: financial infrastructure provider. The A7A5 ruble-backed stablecoin that facilitates sanctions evasion between Russia and Iran processed over $100 billion in transactions since its January 2025 launch. While not a Chinese creation, the corridor operates through exchanges and wallets that serve Chinese buyers of Iranian crude. Iran keeps oil flowing to China even as Hormuz closes to everyone else, routing through the Caspian and overland pipelines that bypass the strait entirely. Iran International reported that Iranian crude exports to China have continued throughout the war via alternative channels. The three roles create structural contradictions. A mediator cannot credibly negotiate a ceasefire while its strategic reserve drawdowns assume the war continues. A peacemaker cannot broker trust between Gulf states and Iran while its buyers receive the Iranian crude that the Gulf states’ own tankers cannot move. A responsible stakeholder cannot call for international law compliance while abstaining from votes that would enforce it. The PBOC extended its gold buying streak to 16 consecutive months in February, adding 30,000 troy ounces to reserves that now total 74.22 million fine troy ounces. The gold purchases predate the war but accelerated in its shadow. Central banks that buy gold during energy crises are not preparing for peace. They are preparing for a monetary environment where the dollar-denominated energy trade faces structural disruption. China’s Middle East envoy delivers statements about peace. China’s strategic reserve managers drain stockpiles for war. China’s financial infrastructure enables the sanctions evasion that funds one side. And China’s central bank buys gold as if the entire dollar system might need a replacement. The mediator, the opportunist, and the gold buyer sit in the same government. They attend the same Politburo Standing Committee meetings. They serve the same strategic objective: ensure China emerges from the Iran war with its energy supply intact, its industrial base running, its diplomatic reputation enhanced, and its monetary reserves positioned for whatever comes after. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

China’s economy is falling behind because of deflation and a weak currency, per WSJ


JUST IN: The military America says it destroyed runs 800 companies, owns banks with 600 branches, and operates zinc mines across three provinces. The war is not being fought against an army. It is being fought against a conglomerate. Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters is the IRGC’s economic flagship: 812 registered companies, 1,700 government contracts, 250,000 workers, operating across oil, gas, construction, telecommunications, and mining. US Treasury sanctions lists identify its subsidiaries by name: Fater Engineering, Makin Institute, Ghorb Karbala, Oriental Oil Kish, Sepasad Engineering, Hara Company, and SADRA shipbuilding among them. Fortune reported in March that the IRGC’s foundations control over half of Iran’s GDP by some estimates. Hegseth says the defence industrial base has been “functionally defeated.” The defence industrial base is a fraction of what the IRGC owns. The rest builds dams, lays pipelines, mines zinc, and deposits the proceeds in banks it also owns. Beneath Khatam sits a second layer: the Basij Cooperative Foundation, established in 1996, operating 20 corporations and financial institutions. Ansar Bank alone has 600 branches and 6 million customers. The foundation controls zinc and lead mining complexes in Bafq, Anguran, and Zanjan, petrochemical investments, agricultural operations, and construction subsidiaries. US Treasury designated the foundation in 2018. Its purpose is not commerce. It is loyalty. Housing grants, small-business loans, and rural development projects flow to Basij members and their families, creating a patronage network that converts economic dependency into political obedience and military readiness. The two empires overlap. Khatam builds the infrastructure. Basij distributes the benefits. The IRGC commands both. And the Habib Ring that installed Mojtaba channels profits offshore through intermediaries like Ali Ansari, whose network connects £200 million in London property and €400 million in European hotels to the same financial architecture that funds a $20,000 Shahed drone. When Araghchi told CBS “we are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes,” he was not describing ideology. He was describing a balance sheet. The IRGC does not need state budgets to fight. It has its own banks. It does not need government contracts to sustain operations. It has 812 companies generating revenue under sanctions through smuggling networks, black-market transactions, and cryptocurrency channels that the 15,000 strikes have not touched because you cannot bomb a shell company registered in Dubai or a zinc mine in Zanjan. The Khatam al-Anbiya spokesman confirmed the escalation logic on 11 March: the “enemy left our hands open to targeting economic centres and banks” linked to America and Israel across the Gulf. The threat is not abstract. It is specific. Any energy infrastructure in which an American company holds shares. Any banking facility linked to the coalition. The conglomerate that runs 812 companies is threatening the companies of the countries bombing it, and the threat is credible because the same conglomerate already hit AWS data centres with drones it funded from revenues those 812 companies generated. Fifteen thousand strikes have destroyed Iran’s air force, navy, missile production, and air defences. They have not destroyed the zinc mine in Bafq. They have not destroyed Ansar Bank’s 600 branches. They have not destroyed the petrochemical investments in Bushehr. They have not destroyed the shell companies in Dubai or the mansions in London. The military is rubble. The economy that funded the military is intact. And the economy does not need the military to launch a Shahed. It needs $35,000 and a garage. The war America is winning is against Iran’s armed forces. The war America has not started is against Iran’s economy. And “as long as it takes” is the IRGC’s way of saying the second war is the one that matters. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

Lots of folks arguing that TACO on Iran could come without realizing that markets already reflect a very high expectation that it will.



Reporter: “Yesterday you told us Israel was going to strike Iran and that’s why we needed to get involved.” 🤡Narco Rubio: “That’s false. Were you there yesterday?” Reporter: “Yes. I asked you the question.”








Nächster Star geht ab: ORF-Aus für Stimme aus dem Nahen Osten Karim El-Gawhary. Sein Vertrag wird nicht verlängert. krone.at/3991480










