Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
SAUDI ARABIA. CHINA. Riyadh looks to solutions through Beijing.
IRAN. UNITED STATES. Trump faces a decision, if Tehran lets him.
POLAND. GERMANY. The Pentagon mulls a shift to the east.
JAPAN. Interest rates rise as SoftBank raises.
MYANMAR. Naypyidaw uses hostage diplomacy to win favour.
SAUDI ARABIA. CHINA. Seeing red
Riyadh looks to solutions through Beijing.
China had asked Iran to rein in the Houthis at Saudi Arabia’s behest, Reuters said Thursday, as reports emerged that Riyadh had used a Chinese ballistic missile in Yemen. China had “significantly” upgraded its base in Djibouti, CSIS said.
INTELLIGENCE. The media has focused on Thursday’s approval for the $24 billion sale of 48 US F-35 fighters to Riyadh, yet deliveries, long in the works, may take until 2030. And as the Pentagon refuses to use its own jets in helping fight the Houthis, the Saudis will need to look to others before the map is entirely redrawn. Beijing, which has been quietly aiding Tehran and yesterday vetoed a UN sanctions monitoring mandate, may be Riyadh’s best option.
FOR BUSINESS. Besides entreaties to Tehran, Beijing may have been instrumental in Islamabad’s seeming about-turn on whether to invoke its defence pact over Yemen, with Pakistan’s defence minister Wednesday telling local media that "the time had come" to "fulfil our duty", without elaborating how. Yet there is also pressure on Riyadh to yield, with the Houthis, leading a population bigger than Saudi Arabia’s, increasingly seen as Yemen’s de facto rulers.
IRAN. UNITED STATES. Beside the turning point
Trump faces a decision, if Tehran lets him.
Oil fell to $103 after Masoud Pezeshkian was given a visa to visit the UN next week and Donald Trump said “a major turning point in the war” was approaching, with “a big decision coming up”. Iran’s president is due to speak Wednesday.
INTELLIGENCE. Pezeshkian attended the UN General Assembly last September.