Iran war tests China’s oil stockpile
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The FT’s Gideon Rachman explains what the Strait of Hormuz’s closure means strategically for Iran, Italy’s UniCredit has launched a €35bn takeover offer for Commerzbank and China’s oil stockpile is put to the test as the strait remains closed. Plus, scientists have identified a potential new type of planet.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Why Hormuz will haunt us long after this war ends
Biggest Nato allies reject Trump’s Hormuz armada demand
UniCredit launches €35bn Commerzbank takeover offer
Iran war tests Xi Jinping’s plan to build China’s stockpiles
Hellish new planet identified beyond solar system
Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts
Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted by Sonja Hutson, and produced by Marc Filippino, Saffeya Ahmed, and Victoria Craig. Our show was mixed by Kent Militzer. Additional help from Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. |
| 0:03.8 | Today is Tuesday, March 17th, and this is your FT News Briefing. |
| 0:08.4 | NATO allies don't want to get involved in the Middle East conflict. |
| 0:13.4 | Had Trump behaved in a more conventional way, had he not slapped them with tariffs, insulted them, threatened to invade Greenland, would they be more cooperative now? |
| 0:25.0 | And can China's oil stockpile carry it through the war? Plus, Italy's unicredit sweetened its bid for Germany's Commerce Bank. |
| 0:34.3 | I'm Sonia Hudson, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:47.0 | The UK, France, and Germany yesterday rejected U.S. demands for them to join a naval mission in the |
| 0:53.8 | Strait of Hormuz. |
| 0:55.4 | Iran has effectively closed it by attacking ships there. |
| 0:59.3 | 20% of the world's oil exports passed through it before the conflict started. |
| 1:04.8 | Here to talk more about what the straits closure means strategically in the short and long term is Gideon Rockman. |
| 1:11.0 | He's the FTs chief foreign affairs commentator. |
| 1:13.8 | Hi, Gideon. |
| 1:14.7 | Hello. |
| 1:15.6 | So yesterday we saw the biggest NATO allies reject U.S. President Donald Trump's call for their navies to intervene. |
| 1:22.8 | Why did Trump ask them to do that and why are they resisting? |
| 1:29.8 | Well, I guess Trump asked them to do that because he has a big problem on his hands and he must feel that the U.S. Navy alone couldn't clear |
| 1:37.7 | the strait. So I think the British and the Germans and all the others think that, you know, |
| 1:44.1 | they're being asked to undertake an extremely hazardous mission, |
| 1:47.8 | which might go on for months that wouldn't be guaranteed as success, but would almost certainly lead to casualties, |
| 1:53.7 | to get Trump away from the consequences of a decision that he took without really consulting them. |
| 1:59.9 | And I think the other thing is that had |
... |
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