Ben Shapiro

Let's be clear about this negotiation.

Pakistan is a cutout for China.

Pakistan is basically a Chinese proxy at this point, period.

China was begging the United States to stop here because China has been deprived of some 37% of the oil that is coming through the Strait of Hormuz.

They are the largest single recipient of all oil from the Strait of Hormuz.

33% of all of their oil imports come directly from the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran is choking that off.

China's not getting its oil right now, which harms China significantly more than it harms the United States.

So the United States, as a goodwill gesture to China, is offering Iran a path out.

Now, if Iran doesn't show the goodwill to take it, what is China going to do?

Is China going to be super happy with the Iranians for continuing to choke off the Strait of Hormuz as their only methodology for attaining power?

Because again, they don't have a fully functional nuclear program.

It seems as though the Iranian government is trying to turn itself into a hermit state like North Korea.

Basically, they're saying, okay, we have no economy.

Okay, our country's trashed, but we will hang on to power by exerting leverage.

They don't have a nuclear weapon the way that North Korea does.

That's the thing we've been trying to stop because if they got a nuclear weapon, not only would they hand it off to their terror proxies, they would also threaten everybody with it.

Right now, they're using the Strait of Hormuz to threaten everybody.

The reason they won't give up control of the Strait is because they have no leverage if they give up control of the Strait.

Again, this could all be over tomorrow if they give up their nukes and control of the Strait.