Iran wants to hijack Trump’s meeting with Xi

Iran is attempting to hijack President Trump’s state visit to Beijing, which is already underway. Tehran, under military and economic pressure due to Trump’s naval blockade of Iran’s western and southern seaports, needs to find a way out of the strategic stalemate it created by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Beijing is, perhaps, the Iranian regime’s last best chance to wage its asymmetrical war against the U.S. on the global stage — especially since Tehran’s efforts to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene have largely failed.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi began laying the foundation for Tehran’s Beijing power play. He met with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, in Beijing in an attempt to get Tehran’s senior Axis of Evil partner to weigh in.

It did not work. Beijing’s response was muted. Wang Yi said the right things on May 6, but he did so blandly, implying that China, at least until the summit with Trump is over, would just as soon let the U.S. get militarily bogged down in Iran.

Nonetheless, Iran was undeterred. Later that same day, as if to remind Beijing of the ongoing economic threat to its oil and liquefied natural gas imports –– 50 percent of its oil and 25 percent of its liquefied gas imports come from the Middle East –– Tehran attacked the United Arab Emirates, firing twelve ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and multiple drones that set the Fujairah oil refinery ablaze.

Iran’s messaging to Chinese President Xi Jinping was clear. It wants him to press Trump to end the war on Tehran’s terms. That didn’t work. Beijing, ahead of Trump’s visit, was clearly opting to tamp........

© The Hill