China could be the key to ending the Iran war | Trita Parsi | MEE Opinion

Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President at the Quincy Institute, says that a possible third round of war between the United States and Iran could be so destructive that China may conclude it can no longer remain on the sidelines and must intervene diplomatically. Parsi says Donald Trump has long since lost control of the war and may, after the 3 November mid-term elections, turn to options he previously avoided, including attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure, islands or the use of ground troops. He argues that such an escalation would provoke significant Iranian retaliation, threatening regional energy infrastructure and potentially widening the conflict further. China, he says, was largely able to insulate itself from the first two rounds by using oil reserves, reducing demand and helping stabilise global markets. But a third round could turn an oil bottleneck into a production crisis, creating economic consequences China could no longer avoid. Pointing to China’s role in the 2023 Saudi-Iranian normalisation agreement, Parsi says Beijing could provide the leverage and guarantees needed to bring a US-Iran agreement “across the finishing line”. Such intervention would go against China’s traditional instincts, he concludes, but its own economic self-interest may now demand it.