Following his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila on Wednesday, United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “Iran is in a lot of trouble.”

Additional quotes

Nothing China has done has changed the trajectory of the conflict with Iran.

In fact, in some cases China has been cooperative on the Iran situation.

Would love to reach a diplomatic settlement with Iran.

China and the US have differences but the job is to manage that.

There are areas of potential cooperation.

Disagree with China's activities on Taiwan.

Discussed trade among other things.

Middle East risks keep Brent elevated as Saudi flows face fresh disruption

Analysts at Rabobank warn that Middle East supply routes remain highly fragile, with “Hormuz remains on a knife-edge, with most flows halted save those taking the Iranian route.” They highlight that the situation has deteriorated further after “two tankers carrying Saudi crude made U-turns in the Red Sea after a Houthi warning,” describing this as “the first sign of the threatened blockade of Saudi ports.” Against this backdrop, Rabobank argues that the latest escalation will “not allow energy markets to ‘take the summer off’ rather than taking off,” noting that “we are at $91.5 on Brent at time of writing with crack spreads still round $70.”