Source: Dubai - Hussein Gammo - Date: July 19, 2020
The American pursuit of the rise of China’s star continues as a new global power competing for world leadership, from the South China Sea, to the maritime belt of Africa, and finally the Indian Ocean, which until recently was disobeying any strategic presence of China, except for the Hambantota port station in Sri Lanka that was forced to deliver the port to China in 2017 as part of a 99-year lease contract after the government failed to pay the debts it had accumulated to build it.
At the end of 2019, the new Sri Lankan President Gutapaya Rajapaksa stood up to address friendly countries, with a tone in which there was a lot of hope and hope for saving Sri Lanka.
Rajapaksa suggested that India and Western countries invest in his country, because otherwise he would compel him to seek financing from China again, as Sri Lanka is languishing under huge debts payable. During his visit to India, the Sri Lankan President said: "The Chinese will be dominated by their Belt and Road initiative, unless other countries offer an alternative." But no one has moved to support Sri Lanka from the need for China, and given that the Indian Ocean is strategically a traditional American sphere of influence, the Chinese storm is close to finding a foothold on the coast of surrounding and nearby countries.
As every time, the United States is lagging behind in its steps to keep pace with China's infiltration speed for years before announcing giant deals.
Chinese base
In this context, the United States is alerted to the danger of the prospect of an agreement between China and Iran. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo considered the agreement another reason for the importance of extending the arms embargo against Iran.
The agreement includes the signing of a trade understanding with China worth 400 billion dollars, which will include closer military cooperation between the two countries in the region. The agreement, which was published in the New York Times, states that Iran could receive about $ 400 billion in Chinese investment over the next 25 years. The agreement also includes developing weapons, as well as training and exchanging intelligence, and allowing Beijing to access a number of Iranian ports, including the Chabahar port, where the Chinese are reportedly planning to build a new military base near the port. Building such a base would enable the Chinese navy to monitor US naval activities in the area.
In a report to German news agency DPA, Kon Coflin, a senior fellow at the American Getston Institute, said that as part of the new era of cooperation between Tehran and Beijing, Western security officials raised concerns that this could lead to the two countries forming an alliance to strengthen their presence in the Indian Ocean, and thus challenge the hegemony America has long existed in the region.
Limited options
Away from direct American pressure on Iran and the maximum pressure campaign, however, less escalating options may be put forward, especially with the difficulty of extending the arms embargo on Iran, which is scheduled to be voted on in the UN Security Council next October. Among these potential options, Washington may ease pressures on Tehran and maintain trade gaps for it in exchange for not turning into a commercial and military station for China in the long run. One indication of this may be Washington's lack of interest in an Iranian project to transport goods from India to Chabahar Port, then ship the goods by land to the Caspian Sea coast, and finally transport the goods by sea to Russia, and from there to Europe by rail.
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Thank You, Informative