China’s foreign minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference. (Pedro Pardo/AFP)
China’s foreign minister held phone discussions with his Iranian counterpart, Beijing state media said on Tuesday, reporting that Iran said it was “willing to exercise restraint” after its first-ever attack on Israel’s territory.
Israel has vowed to respond to the unprecedented Iranian missile and drone strikes over the weekend, which have prompted appeals for de-escalation by world leaders fearing wider conflict.
China is a close partner of Iran, its largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.
The United States has repeatedly made public appeals for China to use its influence over Tehran to manage tensions in the region, which are currently turbocharged over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
During the call, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian briefed Wang Yi on the 1 April attack on a consular annex of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus, which Tehran says prompted its aerial assault, Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua said.
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Amir-Abdollahian told Wang that the United Nations Security Council “did not make a necessary response to this attack” and that “Iran has the right to self-defence in response to the violation of its sovereignty,” according to a readout.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian briefs the press at his headquarters in Tehran. Iran urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a deadly strike on its consulate building in Damascus. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran was “willing to exercise restraint” and had no intention of further escalating tensions, adding the current regional situation was “very sensitive”.
Wang said China “strongly condemns and firmly opposes the attack” on the Iranian consular annex, Xinhua reported, and regards it as a “serious violation of international law and unacceptable”.
The readout said China noted Iran’s statement that, in response, it had taken limited action in “self-defence”.
Xinhua quoted Wang as saying:
China appreciates Iran’s stress on not targeting regional and neighbouring countries as well as its reiteration on continuously pursuing a good-neighbourly and friendly policy.
“It is believed that Iran can handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil while safeguarding its own sovereignty and dignity.”
Tehran’s foreign ministry readout said Amir-Abdollahian briefed Wang on Iran’s “legitimate action” and “warned the White House” that further attacks on Iran’s interests or security would invite a “decisive, immediate and extensive” response.
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The foreign ministers discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict in the call, with Wang calling the current situation a “spillover effect of the escalating conflict in Gaza”, according to Xinhua.
China, historically sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1 170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Demonstrators wave Iran’s flag and Palestinian flags as they gather in front of the British Embassy in Tehran on 14 April 2024, after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed that a drone and missile attack was under way against Israel in retaliation for a deadly 1 April drone strike on its Damascus consulate. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
This video screengrab from AFPTV shows explosions lighting up the sky in Hebron, Palestinian Territories, during an Iranian attack on Israel. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed early on 14 April 2024 that a drone and missile attack was under way against Israel in retaliation for a deadly drone strike on its Damascus consulate. (AFPTV/AFP)
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33 797 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
“China is willing to maintain communication with the Iranian side and jointly push for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue,” Wang said according to Xinhua.
Wang also held talks with his Saudi counterpart on Monday, the news agency said.
The two foreign ministers agreed to work together to avoid further escalation in the Middle East, it said.
