Xi warns world order is ‘crumbling into disarray’ as US seals Strait

As a tentative two-week ceasefire continues:

• The US says it has stepped up its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and it has ‘completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea’
• Iran has not commented to Trump’s claims, but UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said it was ‘highly probably’ that talks would resume
• Lebanon described preliminary talks with Israel in the US as ‘productive’ while Israel said the talks show the three countries ‘are on the same side of the equation’
• Iran used a Chinese spy satellite it secretly bought in 2024 to target US bases in the current war
• Donald Trump said it was ‘very possible’ the war would be over by the time King Charles visits the US later this month
• He also suggested the special relationship with the UK ‘has been better’ and said ‘I think that I like Starmer’

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the world order is ‘crumbling into disarray’ as the US steps up its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

In remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, he said: In ‘today’s world, chaos abounds, and the international order is crumbling’.

The visit by Sanchez comes as many Western governments are seeking to maintain ties with Beijing despite lingering security and trade tension, as discomfort grows over the policies of Trump.

Xi said deeper ties between Spain and China were in both of their interests and and urged stronger communication and trust to ‘uphold the rule of law, jointly defend genuine multilateralism, and safeguard global peace and development’.

Sanchez said international law was repeatedly being undermined, and called for closer ties to promote peace and prosperity.

‘It is more necessary today than ever, and so that together we can establish an even stronger bond between China and the European Union,’ Sanchez said.

Satellite images appear to show Iran using heavy equipment to dig out missile launchers locked in underground tunnels during the two-week ceasefire.

Around half of Iran’s missile launchers are believed to still be intact and thousands of attack drones remain in Iran’s arsenal despite the bombardment the country has faced.

The US is reportedly sending 10,000 extra troops to the Middle East despite claims by Donald Trump that the war in Iran is ‘close to over’.

The additional forces include about 6,000 troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and multiple warships escorting it, according to the Washington Post.

Around 4,200 others with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked Marine Corps task force, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, are also expected to arrive by the end of April.

Iran’s president has warned that any attempts by Israel or the US to force the regime to ‘surrender’ are ‘destined to fail and the Iranian nation will never accept such an approach.’

Speaking at a meeting with Tehran’s emergency service officials on Wednesday, Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran ‘has always stressed the need for constructive talks and interactions with various countries’.

His comments came after Donald Trump claimed the war is nearing its conclusion.

Europe is speeding up a fallback plan for NATO in case Washington pulls out of the alliance as anxiety grows over America’s reliability.

Officials working on the plans, dubbed ‘European NATO’, are reportedly attempting to supplement US military assets with European ones.

The plans, drawn up last year, are also seeking to place Europeans in NATO’s command-and-control roles, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Those involved have stressed that it is not intended to rival the current alliance, but rather preserve deterrence against Putin, nuclear credibility and operational continuity even if the US withdraws forces from Europe.

The US-sanctioned tanker Rich Starry made its way back to the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after exiting the Gulf the day before, shipping data showed, failing to break through a US blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports.

Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed to reach a deal.

‘During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the US blockade,’ US Central Command said on X, adding that six vessels complied with directions from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port.

The Chinese-owned tanker was among at least eight ships crossing the waterway on Tuesday, the first day of the US blockade.

A US destroyer stopped two oil tankers attempting to leave the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday, a US official said.

Iran used a Chinese spy satellite it secretly bought in 2024 to target US bases in the current war.

The TEE-01B satellite, built and launched by Chinese company Earth Eye Co, was bought by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force in late 2024 after it was launched into space from China, according to the Financial Times who cited leaked Iranian military documents.

The Iranian military commanders directed the satellite to monitor major US military sites, the newspaper said.

As part of the deal, the IRGC received access to commercial ground stations operated by Emposat, a Beijing-based provider of satellite control and data services provider with a network extending across Asia, Latin America and other regions, according to the report.

The Chinese satellite reportedly captured images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15.

The satellite also monitored Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and locations close to the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Manama, Bahrain, and Erbil airport, Iraq, around the time of IRGC-claimed attacks on facilities in those areas.

Israel and Hezbollah are continuing to trade fire despite ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in the US.

Lebanon described preliminary talks with Israel in the US as ‘productive’ while Israel said the talks show the three countries ‘are on the same side of the equation’.

Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group, has already claimed it will take no notice of the outcome of talks and will continue to target Israel.

Iran is causing chaos in the Strait of Hormuz by using ‘zombie ships’ without any identification to try and bypass the US blockade.

The US said its blockade has been ‘fully implemented’ but Iranian state media reported a crude oil carrier has passed through ‘without any concealment’.

Experts have described a new pattern of ‘shadow’ activity where ships adopt difference identification to avoid detection.

‘Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using “zombie” or random identification,’ Ami Daniel, the chief executive of Windward, a maritime intelligence data provider, told the New York Times.

Under international maritime laws, commercial vessels must travel with a transponder that transmits identifying information including the ship’s name, location and route.

Iran has claimed a crude oil carrier ignored the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and entered Iranian waters after travelling through the waterway.

The supertanker, which the regime said is capable of carrying around 2 million barrels of crude oil, sailed through international waters and the strait with its tracking system switched on and ‘without any concealment’, according to the country’s state Fars News Agency.

The claims heavily contradict US assertions that the crucial passageway has been blockaded to ships trading with Iran.

On Tuesday, Adm Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command said: ‘A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented.

‘In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, US forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea,’ he added.

US Central Command earlier claimed six merchant vessels turned around and returned to an Iranian port after complying with ‘direction from US forces’.

It is hard to assess how effective the blockade has been so far.

The first day on Tuesday appeared to make little difference to Strait of Hormuz traffic, with at least eight ‌ships including three Iran-linked tankers passing through, shipping data showed.