Marco Rubio has called on China to prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.
His comments came after Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that parliament had approved a plan to close the Strait but added that the final decision lies with the Supreme National Security Council.
Any disruption to the supply of oil would have profound consequences for the economy. China in particular is the world’s largest buyer of Iranian oil and has a close relationship with Tehran.
China: have you tried not bombing them?
America: I can’t believe you would say something so fucking stupid.
America: … (pretending to make static sounds, muffling their voice like it’s a bad connection)… WHAT’S THAT??! … we’ve got a bad connection … did you say … BOMB THEM MORE? … (keeps pretending to make static sounds)
America: Come on, you’re pulling that one out of nowhere. That can’t be the reason, we bomb people all the time!
US probably shouldn’t fuck with people who got the leverage on the economy, but alas, common sense isn’t always available when conservative is ruling.
common sense isn’t always available when conservative is ruling.
It wasn’t when liberals were ruling either (see: Gulf of Aden). This is an imperialism thing, not a conservative thing (though conservatives are worse about it).
They’ll just use it as an excuse to bomb Iran some more
Iran has got jack for leverage. There is a binary choice here:
A) Shutdown the Straight. Get fucking wrecked by the US military, or a coalition.
B) Posture but don’t actually shut it down.
You don’t fuck with international trade.
China:
The Chinese government sitting around the phone with the US on hold …“how long should we make them wait?”
“Give them another hour, it’s already been two” (another round of belly busting laugher)
Stupid fucking bozos
Tune in next week for part 2 of the US-Iran war: “And Find Out.”
In the meantime, China is going all in on EVs thus reducing their dependence on oil…. Gee, wonder what leverage that gives them.
China imports 1.3 to 1.8 million barrels of oil per day from Iran, roughly 16% of its total. It’s not just oil either, China is a heavy importer of other Iranian petrochemicals.
China’s EVs give them very little leverage at this point.
Remind me in 5 years
america helped israel so now China has to help america. Donald Trump better say Thank you.
Setting arrangements of that sort in place ahead of time would be called diplomacy.
How about moving to non-fossil alternatives? Like 4 decades ago? Gee that would’ve been a great idea.
Oh no, not the oil!
/s
I’m confused… China is dependent on oil imports flowing through the strait of Hormuz. Much more so than the US is. In fact the US maintains a naval presence in the region specifically so they’d have the capability to block that strait and starve China of oil. China produces very little oil of their own, though they have coal up the wazoo. Blocking that strait is the US’s main card to play if China invade Taiwan.
Right, so how can the US close it if Iran closes it first? We need China to keep it open, so that then the US can close it to hurt China.
I lose my appetite instantly, whenever I see Rubios face .
It’s a good thing they kept coal alive. Can’t wait for my coal driven Ford soccer mom car to release. Little Jimmy and little Linda in the back seat might have to get their hands dirty throwing fistfuls of coal in the furnace, but it will be good for them. Builds character!
Make … (cough, cough, cough) … America … (cough, HACK, ACK) …Great … (cough, hack, wheeze, cough, hack)… Again
Reading these comments seriously makes me wonder how many of y’all read the article. The US doesn’t need Iranian oil but China DOES.
A dwindling supply of oil through the Strait and rising oil prices damages China and buoys the United States. If China doesn’t want to put any effort into keeping the Strait open it’s going to hurt them far more than it will hurt anyone else.
China gets their Iranian oil from trains not boats.
This is not the US trying to help China.
it’s such a weird thing for the US to say, too - like China needs them to point out what their own interests are
Gotta spread that blowback around
I hope Iran waits until a couple months before the midterms to close the Strait. Nothing like sky-high oil prices to swing an election.
Isn’t that more than a year away? If Netanyahu and his stooges have their way there won’t be an Iran by then.
