Iran · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Trump Tells Xi Jinping China Assistance To Iran Is Totally Unacceptable, Perdue Says
Trump warned Xi that any Chinese assistance to Iran is unacceptable. US Ambassador Perdue said Trump pressed Xi to halt China’s Iran support.
21 outlets told this the same way.
7 of 11 outlets skipped it: xi and Trump agreed Iran must never get nuclear weapons.
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Trump presses Xi
US President Donald Trump told visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping that Beijing providing any assistance to Iran would be “totally unacceptable,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a CNBC interview. Perdue said Trump reiterated that any help to Iran, whether “direct or indirect,” whether it involved “intelligence, or parts, or military equipment,” was “totally unacceptable,” and Perdue said Trump made the point again “yesterday.” Perdue said Washington remains concerned about possible indirect Chinese support for Iran while acknowledging the US has “no direct evidence of China helping Tehran keep the contested Strait of Hormuz closed.”
Perdue said Trump and Xi agreed that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open, describing the understandings as significant progress. Perdue said Trump and Xi held talks and attended a state dinner, with Trump saying the two countries have “never gotten along better” and Xi saying the leaders held “sincere and in-depth exchanges.”
Assurances and negotiations
Perdue said Washington received assurances from Beijing that China would not provide support to Iran, telling Fox News that “They assured us yesterday they’re not doing that.” Perdue said Trump acknowledged that the two leaders discussed the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran in late February, without giving details. Reuters reported that US lawmakers had urged Trump to confront Xi over reports that Chinese entities provided targeting help that led to US casualties in the conflict, and Reuters said Chinese officials had assured Iran that China would not limit its economic, political or military ties with Tehran under pressure.
In New York, US envoys Steve Wittekoff and Jared Kushner conducted a new round of indirect negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, with Qatari officials participating and conveying messages between the two sides. The sources cited by the Anadolu Ajansı account said Zarif told Wittekoff and Kushner Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks, including reopening within a week if the United States lifts its naval blockade, removes sanctions on oil sales, and restores the ceasefire in the region.
What is at stake
Perdue said Trump and Xi agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open, while Perdue said Washington has no direct evidence that Beijing is helping Tehran keep it closed. An Iranian senior official told Reuters that Tehran will not show flexibility on its nuclear program even if Washington accepts Iran’s proposal to reopen the Hormuz Strait, and the official said the waterway would remain closed until “all of Iran’s conditions” are met by the United States. The Anadolu Ajansı account said China is one of the largest importers of Iranian oil, and it said bilateral trade volume between China and Iran climbed to over $41 billion last year.
The Anadolu Ajansı account also said the US remains concerned about possible indirect Chinese support for Iran, while Perdue said Washington has made its concerns clear to Beijing and said “We’ve seen evidence that they have listened to us, they’ve pulled some things down.” The Anadolu Ajansı account said Trump and Xi reached a common understanding on several issues and that Xi said the discussions provided “new strategic guidance” for China-US relations, as the Iran file remained tied to Hormuz reopening and nuclear talks.