Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi holds calls with China\u2019s Wang Yi amid Israeli-US attacks on Iran
\n Beijing
\nThe Iranian minister of foreign affairs has briefed senior members of China\u2019s central committee and his counterpart, Wang Yi, promising to do everything to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in the country amid the war launched by the US and Israel.
\nForeign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the comment in a call on Monday with Wang, which focused on the situation in Iran as Tehran defended \u201citself at all costs\u201d, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing said in a statement.
\n\u201cSeyed Abbas Araghchi noted that the Iranian side will do its utmost to guarantee the safety and security of Chinese personnel and institutions,\u201d the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
\nAraghchi told Wang that Washington had \u201claunched war against Iran for the second time during their ongoing negotiations\u201d, despite the two sides having made \u201cpositive progress in the latest round of negotiations\u201d.
\nThe US and Israel launched their surprise attack on Iran on Saturday, just after Oman\u2019s foreign minister \u2013 who had mediated the last round of indirect talks between Washington and Tehran \u2013 said a peace deal was closer than ever.
\n\u201cA peace deal is within our reach,\u201d Badr al-Busaidi said in an interview with CBS News just hours before the attack on Iran started.
\nTehran had \u201cno choice but to defend itself\u201d, Araghchi told his Chinese counterpart, adding that he hoped Beijing would play a role in preventing further escalation of the conflict in the region.
\n\u201cChina values the traditional friendship between China and Iran and supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity and national dignity and in upholding its legitimate and lawful rights and interests,\u201d Wang told Araghchi, according to the ministry.
\n\u201cChina has urged the US and Israel to immediately cease military actions to avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent the conflict from expanding and spreading to the entire Middle East region,\u201d Wang said.
\nThe call between the ministers comes as China continues to maintain close relations with Iran and has worked in the past to end Tehran\u2019s isolation on the world stage, including by granting Iran membership in BRICS+ \u2013 a bloc representing top emerging economies aiming to challenge the Western-led system \u2013 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, according to the London-based think tank Chatham House.
\nAhmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said Beijing and Tehran are comprehensive strategic partners, having signed a 25-year strategic agreement in 2021.
\n\u201cChina remains a lifeline for the Iranian economy\u201d amid crushing sanctions, Aboudouh added.
\nMore than 80 percent of Iran\u2019s shipped oil in 2025 went to China, making up about 13.5 percent of all the oil China imported by sea, Aboudouh wrote in a recent briefing paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi holds calls with China\u2019s Wang Yi amid Israeli-US attacks on Iran Beijing The Iranian minister of foreign affairs has briefed senior members of China\u2019s central committee and his counterpart, Wang Yi, promising to do everything to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in the country amid the war launched by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-534690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n