China ready to safeguard Iran’s ‘rights, interests’

China ready to safeguard Iran’s ‘rights, interests’

BEIJING: China is willing to “safeguard Iran’s rights and interests” and to “strengthen dialogue and cooperation”, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart Abbas Araghchi during their meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. Wang Yi said China encourages Iran and the United States to remain rational, exercise restraint, return to the interim peace deal they signed in June and “engage in substantive consultations”. “We urge all parties to take effective measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at an early date” to safeguard the stability of international energy transport and supply chains, the Chinese foreign minister said, adding that China “does not want to see regional tensions to spill over further into Yemen and the Red Sea”. “We encourage Iran and the US to stay rational and restrained,” he added. Wang tells Araghchi Beijing doesn’t want regional tensions to spill over into Yemen and Red Sea Tehran and Washington should “rebuild the negotiation mechanism based on the consensus reached so far”, Wang told Araghchi, who was on a one-day visit to Beijing. Abbas Araghchi said in his speech Tehran welcomed diplomatic solutions which protect its rights. “Iran, while fully prepared to powerfully defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity and safeguard its security… against aggressors, welcomes diplomatic solutions that ensure the rights of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi said. The talks between the two diplomats came a week ahead of an expected meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said Trump and Xi would continue discussions on Iran and China’s financial links to Tehran, which Washington has been seeking to shut out of Western financial systems. Beijing, the main buyer of Iran’s oil, had repeatedly stressed the need to restore normal and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, but has largely refrained from directly challenging Tehran’s threats to shipping. “The current situation once again demonstrates that the existing security architecture in the Middle East is inadequate and needs to be reformed and strengthened,” Wang said in the talks with Araghchi. China stands ready to promote peace, fairness and justice in the region, and its policy toward Iran has remained consistent and stable, he added. Damage to US bases A destroyed aircraft, shredded tents, trailers that have been ripped apart: images taken by US troops show significant damage from Iranian strikes targeting American military assets in the Middle East, CBS News reported on Tuesday. The undated images were taken at a base in Saudi Arabia and two facilities in Kuwait, according to CBS. “This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,” CBS quoted one US service member as saying. “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face,” the service member added. The Pentagon’s inspector general released a report earlier this week that said the military’s Central Command (Centcom), which is responsible for US forces in the Middle East, had reported widespread damage to American facilities and equipment. Centcom said Iranian strikes “damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan”, the report said. The Defence Department estimated the cost of the war at $33.4 billion as of June 29, but that figure “does not include costs for infrastructure repairs”, according to the report. Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026