China exploiting Iran war to gain global advantage, report warns
A confidential U.S. intelligence report obtained by The Washington Post warns that China is using the war in Iran to expand its military, economic and diplomatic leverage while the United States remains heavily tied down in the Middle East.
The assessment, prepared recently for Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, has fueled debate inside the Pentagon as officials weigh the long-term geopolitical costs of the conflict and whether the war is creating strategic openings for Beijing.
The report comes as President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing after the conflict previously delayed plans for a summit earlier this year.
Pentagon report uses DIME framework
The intelligence analysis reportedly frames the war in Iran as a global competition issue, not just a Middle East crisis.
According to The Post, the report uses the military’s “DIME” framework — diplomatic, informational, military, and economic power — to examine how China is responding across multiple fronts.
The report says Beijing has sold defensive systems to Persian Gulf nations facing Iranian missile and drone attacks, while also positioning itself as an alternative energy supplier, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to squeeze global markets.
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas moves through the Strait of Hormuz.
Ryan Hass of the Brookings Institution told The Post that China is now one of the countries best positioned to withstand the energy disruptions while also helping fill shortages abroad.
Munitions concerns inside Pentagon
The report also warns that the scale of U.S. weapons use in Iran is creating growing concerns inside the Pentagon about military readiness in a potential future conflict involving Taiwan.
According to the assessment, China is closely studying how the U.S. conducts operations in the Middle East, including weapons use, logistics and battlefield coordination, while also using criticism of the war in public messaging to portray Washington as destabilizing and overly aggressive.
Jacob Stokes of the Center for a New American Security told The Post the conflict gives Beijing an opportunity to cast the United States as “an aggressive, unilateralist power in decline.”
Trump administration disputes conclusions
The Trump administration pushed back on the report’s broader conclusion.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Post claims that the balance of power has shifted away from the United States are “fundamentally false.”
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the administration had “decimated the Iranian regime’s military capabilities in 38 short days” and is now using a naval blockade to strangle what remains of Iran’s economy.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said Beijing’s focus remains on de-escalation and preventing renewed fighting, rejecting accusations that China is exploiting the conflict for geopolitical gain.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
