China and Iran hold urgent talks on ceasefire and Strait of Hormuz tensions

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Wednesday, their first in-person talks since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began, focusing on the fragile ceasefire and security in the Strait of Hormuz.

Araghchi’s visit comes just one week before U.S. President Donald Trump is due in Beijing for a summit with President Xi Jinping on 14 and 15 May, casting a long shadow over the meeting and injecting it with rare urgency. Analysts say the timing is no accident.

Ceasefire and shipping lane dominate agenda

Two issues dominated the agenda: maintaining the ceasefire reached in April and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas once passed.

Since the war began on 28 February, Iran has effectively closed the strait, pushing fuel and fertiliser prices sharply higher and prompting fears of a global recession.

The closure has put Beijing in an uncomfortable position. China has been critical of the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports, calling it dangerous, but has also grown increasingly critical of Iran’s decision to keep the strait shut.

China, the world’s largest buyer of Gulf oil and gas, has absorbed some of the shock through domestic stockpiles and a diversified energy mix, but the strain is mounting.

• Between principle and pragmatism: China’s careful dance with Iran

U.S. urges China to intervene

In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Beijing to press Iran to release its chokehold on the strait, describing U.S. efforts to reopen it as defensive and aimed at helping thousands of civilian sailors stranded in the Persian Gulf.

“At least 10 sailors have already died as a result,” Rubio said.

So far, the U.S.-guarded corridor has seen only minimal commercial traffic, with hundreds of vessels still bottled up in the region.

Iran seeks clarity ahead of major diplomacy

For Tehran, the Beijing visit carried its own set of anxieties. Araghchi was reportedly seeking clarity on what Beijing might put on the table when Xi meets Trump, and whether any concessions to Washington could come at Iran’s expense.

On nuclear talks, Araghchi said Iran would do its utmost to protect its legitimate rights and interests, and would only accept a fair and comprehensive agreement.

• U.S. and Iran launch new attacks as they wrestle for control of Hormuz
• Iranian FM Araghchi holds talks in Beijing, ahead of U.S.-China leaders' summit

With Trump touching down in Beijing in just over a week, the stakes could hardly be higher.

How China chooses to balance its partnership with Iran against its fraught but consequential relationship with the United States may well determine whether the region edges towards stability - or a deeper crisis.

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