Hacker News Reader

> The US has asked China to use its ties with Iran to try and rein in the Houthis, but on Thursday, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said Washington had seen “no visible evidence” Beijing was doing so.

How do they think this works, that Iran is bigger than Yemen, so Yemen takes orders from it, and China is bigger than Iran so Iran takes orders from it? This asking to talk to the manager shtick is very telling about the US’s own views on its allies

View on HN

The Houthis are funded by Iran, and are using Iranian weapons. Iran might not have the ability to give orders, but they certainly have a lot of influence.

China's connections to Iran are less direct, but they do have a loose allyship. That's how diplomacy works. People talk to each other. When they refuse to talk directly, they use intermediaries. It sucks, but it's better than the alternatives. As Churchill supposedly said, jaw-jaw is better than war-war.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com