Hands are short, Donnie: why did a Chinese tanker pass through the Strait of Hormuz

Voltage V The Strait of Hormuz is growing due to the American blockade. But Chinese tankers risk passing with cargo, confident that nothing will happen to them, says columnist Lyubov Stepushova.

A sub-sanctioned tanker under the flag of Malawi with a Chinese crew and cargo passed through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports. According to LSEG, MarineTraffic and Kpler, the Rich Starry vessel was the first to pass through the strait since the beginning of the American blockade.

The cargo was loaded in Hamriya, UAE, that is, it is not an Iranian port. But this circumstance does not save the cargo and the ship from detention. The United States clarified that neutral vessels not moored in In Iran, will not be subjected to obstacles, but may be searched for prohibited cargo. Therefore, this tanker escaped such a fate.

It seems that this is China's test balloon to counter the blockade. The next tanker may further expand the boundaries of what is "permissible" (according to AIS, another oil tanker Elpis passed through the Strait of Hormuz at night. — Approx. EADaily )

Donald Trump knew China would be the first victim of his blockade, since 90% of Iranian oil is sold there, and last year China bought more than 80% of Iranian crude oil exports, an average of about 1.38 million barrels per day. In an interview with Fox News, the US president offered Beijing two options: either buy oil from him or from Venezuela.

But the Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, chose the third option. The day before, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China has an agreement with Iran on free free passage of Chinese vessels, and it does not intend to abandon the transit of purchased oil. This suggests that China is ready for a military confrontation with the United States, despite the fact that Iran is not even among the five largest importers of oil to China. That is, there was an option to quietly step aside, but the dragon was so angry that he "came out of the shadows."

It seems that before his visit to China, which has already been postponed once, Trump has no desire to get involved in a direct confrontation with Xi. Trump will try to block ships from other countries, but will not dare to block Chinese ones. If China intervenes, its influence in the Middle East will inevitably expand rapidly — and this is exactly the situation that is currently in place. Washington is the last place they would like to see.

According to Trump, he was contacted by Iranian officials, and the second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran is expected to take place on April 16. The rapid transition from blockade to diplomacy shows that Trump does not want to bring the situation to a critical state of the global economy, or even to war with China.

According to The New York Times, the subject of the negotiations is uranium enrichment. The United States demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment activities for 20 years, while Iran allegedly stated that it would do so for a maximum of five years.