'That’s a bizarre one': Expert baffled by Trump's new Middle East plan
After announcing a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Iran, President Donald Trump has another plan for peace in the Middle East — a trade deal.
" China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also," Trump wrote on his social media network, Truth Social. "It was my Great Honor to make this happen!"
The move reflects Trump's appetite to create a lasting impression in the Middle East. His first administration negotiated the Abraham Accords to establish diplomatic ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
However, Trump's latest deal perplexed industry experts, some of whom pointed out that it seemed to be a non-sequitur.
“That’s a bizarre one,” Robert Jordan, diplomat-in-residence at Southern Methodist University, told Politico about Trump’s post. “China will be relieved that there is no threat to oil shipments through the Strait, but how that somehow makes China want to purchase American oil is kind of a non sequitur to me — it doesn’t make any sense.”
The deal was announced at a time when global oil prices continued to fall following the U.S. bombing campaign in Iran. On Saturday, the Trump administration bombed three of Iran's largest nuclear facilities. Since then, oil prices dropped by 14% to $64 per barrel as of Tuesday.
While Trump claims a victory by striking a deal, some experts worry that it will give other countries, such as China, more leverage over the United States. That could become especially potent if Iran moves to close the Strait of Hormuz, which facilitates about 20% of global petroleum trade.
“China is actually in a very strong position for negotiating tariffs because now they know that the United States needs them to put pressure on Iran not to close the Strait," Kimberly Donovan, who served as the first Trump administration's acting director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes covering the Middle East and North Africa, told Politico.