Description: China and Pakistan’s foreign ministers met in Beijing where they outlined a 5 – point joint peace initiative for ending the war between the US, Israel and Iran. Shehbaz Sharif and Wang Yi also stated that they discussed closer cooperation with other Gulf and European states in enforcing stronger mediatory efforts to forward a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. US President Donald Trump while addressing the press regarding the aggressive price hikes in oil and fuel, stated that American forces might abandon the conflict within two to three weeks since most of the objectives from an operational standpoint have been achieved. Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, once again rejected any negotiations with the US, emphasizing that mutual trust is virtually none – existent while he also confirmed that he has been in direct contact with US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, although without specifying details. Araghchi concluded that Iran was still revising the 15 – point peace plan by the US.
Impact: Multilateral diplomatic efforts supported by mixed signal statements from Trump and Araghchi indicate that operation Epic Fury might end without a concrete conclusion through a detente or a stalemate where attacks would cease without any official or binding agreement. This would most likely translate on the ground by gradual US withdrawal from the region which would eliminate the cause of continued warfare, however, economic and geopolitical consequences would remain actively present in the long – term. China and Pakistan’s involvement, although represented as a joint effort, are due to the heavy economic consequences from the war that both countries are currently absorbing. Pakistan fears the war might spread over its borders especially with an active insurgency in the Balochistan province and the active conflict the country has with Afghanistan. China’s concerns are its positioning in respect to global economic and geopolitical standing. Beijing is heavily reliant on oil and fuel supply from Iran and other countries in the Middle East where wartime conditions upend stable supply and threaten China’s national economy. Trump’s and Araghchi’s statements signify that although there are active diplomatic efforts and discussions, no concrete measures have been concluded.