00:00U.S. intelligence has reached a troubling conclusion.
00:03China is secretly preparing to arm Iran, right in the middle of the war.
00:08CNN has reported that American intelligence indicates China is preparing to deliver new
00:13air defense systems to Iran, despite Beijing's public denials of any military involvement.
00:19If confirmed, this would be a significant escalation, not of the war itself, but of
00:25the great power competition surrounding it.
00:28Air defense systems would make Iran substantially harder to strike in any resumed U.S. military
00:34operation.
00:36They could protect the missile sites Tehran has already rebuilt along the Strait of Hormuz.
00:40This intelligence drop comes at an extraordinarily sensitive moment.
00:44President Trump is traveling to China this week for his most consequential diplomatic meeting
00:50yet, talks with President Xi Jinping that are expected to put Iran front and center.
00:55Trump has said he will have a long talk with Xi about Iran, while adding he does not need
01:01Beijing's help to end the war.
01:02But Chinese involvement in rearming Iran would change the entire calculus of this conflict
01:08and its cost to American taxpayers.
01:10And its cost to American taxpayers.
01:10And its cost to American taxpayers.
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