US military intelligence believes that China is exploiting the conflict over Iran to increase its military, economic and diplomatic superiority over Washington, The Washington Post reported, citing sources who reviewed a classified intelligence report.
According to the publication, a document prepared before US President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing by the intelligence agency in the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kaine, “has raised concerns in the Pentagon about the geopolitical price“ that Washington is paying for its confrontation with Tehran.
According to the newspaper, the document concludes that since the start of the US-Israeli military operation, China has “sold weapons to US allies in the Persian Gulf“ and “provided assistance to countries around the world struggling to meet their energy needs“ after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The report also noted that the war also depleted large US weapons stocks that would be crucial “in the event of a potential confrontation with China over Taiwan“. The conflict with Iran, which has caused serious damage to US military equipment and facilities in the Middle East, has allowed Beijing to observe how the US conducts war and learn lessons for planning its own operations in the future, the article noted.