Aside from the embarrassment of China’s role as its midwife, a détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia serves US interests: it decreases the risk of conflict in the region, improves prospects for an end to the ruinous war in Yemen, and holds out the promise of greater Iranian restraint in the employment of its client militias in the region.  These are cause for concern and were deployed as arguments against the JCPOA, because it did not explicitly restrain such behavior. This agreement, at least in part, addresses those objections.  Much as we hate to say it, in so far as China is able to hold Iran to the agreement, it is doing Washington a favor. Read More.