China willing to ‘safeguard Iran’s legitimate rights’, official says

China says the US-Israel war on Iran highlights flaws in the Middle East’s ‘existing security architecture’.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says Beijing is 'willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with Iran, and safeguard Iran's legitimate rights and interests' [File: Achmad Ibrahim/Getty Images]

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, that Beijing is “willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with Iran, and safeguard Iran’s legitimate rights and interests”.

The foreign ministers met in Beijing on Wednesday, a week before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned trip to the United States, where he is set to meet his US counterpart, Donald Trump, and they are expected to discuss the war on Iran and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

list 1 of 3 Can China play peacemaker as Iran’s foreign minister heads to Beijing?

list 2 of 3 China does not need to replace the US in the Gulf

list 3 of 3 The Iran war reveals the limits of BRICS

“We encourage Iran and the US to stay rational and restrained,” Wang said.

“We urge all parties to take effective measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at an early date,” he said, adding that China “does not want to see regional tensions to spill over further into Yemen and the Red Sea”.

He also told Araghchi that Tehran and Washington should “rebuild the negotiation mechanism based on the consensus reached so far”.

“The current situation once again demonstrates that the existing security architecture in the Middle East is inadequate and needs to be reformed and strengthened,” Wang said.

China stands ready to promote peace, fairness and justice in the region, and its policy towards Iran has remained consistent and stable, he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the Middle East had undergone “fundamental changes” and that Tehran had started regional negotiations to end the “aggressive” US war against Iran.

In a statement posted on Araghchi’s Telegram channel, he said “We want the return of peace to the region and friendly and peaceful relations with our neighbors, and in this regard, we have started dialogue with the countries of the region.”

Earlier this week, Beijing refuted US media reports that Chinese entities supplied Tehran with satellite images of a military base housing US troops in Jordan, and Trump said in April that he wrote to Xi a letter “asking him” not to sell weapons to Iran.

China is a top economic partner of Iran and the largest buyer of Iranian crude oil.

中国表示，美国和以色列对伊朗的战争凸显了中东“现有安全架构”的缺陷。

中国外交部长王毅表示，北京“愿加强与伊朗的对话与合作，维护伊朗的合法权益”。[图片：Achmad Ibrahim/Getty Images]

中国外交部长王毅告诉伊朗外长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇，北京“愿加强与伊朗的对话与合作，维护伊朗的合法权益”。

周三，两国外长在北京举行会晤。一周后，中国国家主席习近平将访问美国，与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普会面，预计他们将讨论伊朗战争和霍尔木兹海峡局势。

列表 1/3：伊朗外长访问北京之际，中国能否扮演和平缔造者的角色？

列表 2（共 3 条）：中国不需要在海湾地区取代美国

列表 3/3：伊朗战争揭示了金砖国家的局限性

王毅说：“我们鼓励伊朗和美国保持理性克制。”

“我们敦促各方采取有效措施，尽早重新开放霍尔木兹海峡，”他说道，并补充说，中国“不希望看到地区紧张局势进一步蔓延到也门和红海”。

他还告诉阿拉格奇，德黑兰和华盛顿应该“根据迄今为止达成的共识重建谈判机制”。

王毅表示：“当前形势再次表明，中东现有的安全架构不足，需要进行改革和加强。”

他补充说，中国愿为促进地区和平、公平和正义贡献力量，对伊朗的政策始终保持一贯和稳定。

伊朗外交部长赛义德·阿巴斯·阿拉格奇表示，中东已经发生了“根本性的变化”，德黑兰已经启动地区谈判，以结束美国对伊朗发动的“侵略性”战争。

阿拉格奇在其 Telegram 频道上发表声明称：“我们希望该地区恢复和平，与邻国建立友好和平的关系，为此，我们已经开始与该地区各国进行对话。”

本周早些时候，北京驳斥了美国媒体关于中国实体向德黑兰提供驻约旦美军基地卫星图像的报道。特朗普在4月份表示，他曾致信习近平，“要求他”不要向伊朗出售武器。

中国是伊朗最重要的经济伙伴，也是伊朗原油的最大买家。