Trump says Xi agrees Iran must open strait, China says war shouldn’t have started
U.S. President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though China gave no indication it would weigh in.
Flying back from Beijing on Friday after two days of talks with Xi, Trump said he was considering whether to lift U.S. sanctions on Chinese oil companies buying Iranian oil. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil.
“I’m not asking for any favors because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return,” Trump said when asked by a reporter on Air Force One whether Xi had made a firm commitment to put pressure on the Iranians to reopen the vital strait.
Xi did not comment on his discussions with Trump about Iran, although China’s foreign ministry expressed frustration with the Iran war, calling it a conflict “which should never have happened, has no reason to continue.”
In parallel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran would welcome diplomatic support from other countries, particularly from China, citing Beijing’s previous role in facilitating the restoration of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Beijing, however, has shown little public interest in U.S. requests to get more involved, even though Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Xi had in their conversations offered to help.
For context, Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply, in retaliation to U.S.-Zionist attacks launched on February 28. The disruption to shipping has caused the biggest oil supply crisis in history, sending oil prices skyrocketing.
