China backs Iran ‘defending sovereignty’, vows to push for peace

BEIJING: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart on a call Monday that Beijing supports Tehran defending itself against US-Israeli strikes, as war spread across the Middle East.

Hundreds have died in Iran since Saturday when the United States and Israel began striking dozens of targets in the country.

Tehran responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel, Gulf states and a British base in Cyprus.

Wang told Abbas Araghchi that Beijing “cherishes the traditional friendship between China and Iran, supports Iran in defending its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and supports Iran in protecting its legitimate rights and interests”, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China had “urged the US and Israel to immediately cease military operations, avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent the conflict from spreading to the entire Middle East region”, Wang said according to CCTV.

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In a separate phone call with Oman’s foreign minister, also on Monday, Wang accused the United States and Israel of “violating the purposes and principles of the UN charter” by “deliberately instigating a war against Iran”.

“China is also willing to play a constructive role, including upholding justice, striving for peace, and stopping the war through the platform of the UN Security Council,” Wang told Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, CCTV reported.

And in another call with France’s Jean-Noel Barrot, Wang warned that the world risked “regression to the law of the jungle”.

“Major powers cannot arbitrarily attack other countries based on their military superiority”, Wang said, according to CCTV.

“The Iranian nuclear issue must ultimately return to the track of political and diplomatic settlement,” he said.

Four US military personnel have been killed in the fighting so far, while US President Donald Trump has warned that the war with Iran could last for weeks.