The war in Iran landed on a Beijing conference table on May 6, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi for talks both sides framed around one word: diplomacy.
Iran left signaling the Strait of Hormuz could reopen before long. Araghchi said the closure “can be resolved soon”, thanked China for working to prevent escalation, and said Iran trusts China to keep playing a positive role in ending the war. He described the goal as a “comprehensive and permanent” solution reached through peaceful negotiation, with Iran firmly defending its sovereignty and dignity along the way.
Wang, in Xinhua’s account, cast the Middle East at “an important moment” for moving “from war to peace.” A comprehensive ceasefire was essential, he said, a return to fighting unacceptable, and keeping negotiations alive the priority. On the strait, he said restoring normal, safe passage matters to the whole international community, and he urged those involved to respond quickly.
The calendar did the rest. The meeting fell about a week before a planned Trump-Xi summit, with the war a key agenda item, and it was Araghchi’s first trip to China since the fighting began in late February. The two ministers have stayed in close contact throughout, including at least three phone calls on easing tensions.
Analysts saw deliberate timing. Amir Handani of the Quincy Institute told CNBC the two countries were coordinating interests ahead of the summit: China wants the region calm enough to keep trade and energy moving, without the inflation shock and recession risk a long closure would bring. Washington has pushed the same way while leaning on Beijing, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging China on May 4 to play a constructive role in heading off an Iranian blockade of the strait, even as the US sanctioned the Hengli Group over Iranian oil on April 24 and China fired back with its first “sanctions blocking order” telling its companies not to comply.
The pattern has held. Araghchi was back in Beijing in September, again ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, and Xi used a BRICS summit in New Delhi to urge member states to act as peacemakers for the Middle East. Former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called Xi’s “constructive initiatives” timely openings to ease tensions, arguing multilateral diplomacy “is the only viable path to stability”.
Sources
- China-Iran Foreign Ministers Discuss Talks, Hint Hormuz Strait Could Reopen Soon | AJU PRESS
- Can China play peacemaker as Iran’s foreign minister heads to Beijing? | US-Israel war on Iran News | Al Jazeera
