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US, Israel war on Iran
ChinaDiplomacy

Why war on Iran is not Trump’s to end: Israel may ‘fan the flames’

Chinese analysts weigh the US president’s shifting signals and global oil risks, reject talk of any benefit to China

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Plumes of smoke billow into the sky following air strikes near Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on March 7. Photo: AFP
Orange WangandAlyssa Chen

The US-Israeli war on Iran could prove difficult to end in the short term, with Israel expected to continue to “fan the flames”, Chinese experts have warned.

However, they still believe that the intense back-and-forth attacks and high tensions in the Strait of Hormuz are unlikely to last. They also reject the notion that a prolonged Middle East conflict involving the United States would benefit Beijing.

It has been 12 days since the US and Israel launched joint air strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic Republic’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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The conflict is now on track to surpass Iran’s 12-day war with Israel last June, which was joined later by the United States.

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US-Israeli strikes hit oil storage facility in Tehran

US-Israeli strikes hit oil storage facility in Tehran

Tehran on Tuesday reported that over 1,300 civilians had been killed in the current conflict, as Washington confirmed that about 140 US troops had been injured, a day after announcing the death of its seventh service member.

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The fighting has now spread across the region. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on US military assets in neighbouring countries, whose officials report that civilian facilities have been hit.

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