1- selectively yes to maintain appearances but at the same time using Hong Kong banks to route funds into the USD SWIFT system on behalf of Iran and Russia. 2-Yes and so the Chinese Axis are testing their capability up against those of the west- this is only the beginning of WW3. 3-Iran and Russia do still have economies capable of supporting major military operations against the west. Their citizens might not all be living well but that is beside the point- both Iran and Russia are effective military proxies for China and its challenge to the US western imperialism. 4-Russia and China have just opened a second massive pipeline via which Russia can pump more black gold into the veins of China. Sure the sales are at a discount to global prices but Russia still has a steady flow of income all the same...and Chinas economy gets discounted fuel. 5-BYD can produce batteries equivalent to Teslas but at half the price. Without Trumps Tariffs Musks Tesla is facing disaster. In the long term Chinas dominance over EVs, batteries, PVs, and other energy efficiency technology and manufacturing is overwhelming since this was made a priority in the early 2000s. The US economy remains hugely bloated, inefficient and dependent upon ruinous fracking. 6- Chinas economy is moving up the scale of development from crude manufacturing to higher and higher value added technology such as the EVs, robotics, aerospace, nanotech, biotech and energy related areas such as solar, batteries, nuclear, wind and hydro. 7- BRICS Pay will adopt the Chinese CBDC eYuan as its base protocol. It is a long game shifting payments from the legacy USD SWIFT banking system and traditional allies of the US will stay on the old analogue SWIFT protocol a while longer but the truth is all nations gain by trading with China where very few actually gain from trade with USA. China has won the trade war- it offers commodities producers and buyers of manufactured goods a better deal- pure and simple. 8-See 5 above. In summary the US is obese bloated and hugely inefficient in its use of energy.