How China helped bring Tehran to the negotiating table
Beijing: While the world waits to see whether the tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran will continue, China is believed to have played a role in bringing Tehran to the negotiating table.
The exact details of Beijing’s involvement remain unclear, but the United States and Iran have signaled that China is helping support a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire.
“Yes, I am,” US President Donald Trump told AFP news agency on Wednesday (Washington time) when asked if Beijing was helping persuade Tehran to negotiate.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed that the Trump administration had spoken with its Chinese counterparts about the Iran conflict and said “there have been discussions between the upper levels of our government and the Chinese government.”
Separately, New York Times, The news, based on three unnamed Iranian officials, stated that Tehran accepted the ceasefire proposal after Beijing’s last-minute move and that this offer was requested to show flexibility and eliminate tensions.
Pressed by reporters Wednesday to detail China’s role, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning remained vague about the country’s actions but said Beijing was making an “active effort” to encourage the parties to end hostilities.
“Since the war began, China has actively worked to help end the conflict,” he said. “Foreign Minister Wang Yi held 26 phone calls with his counterparts from relevant countries.”
He said China’s Middle East envoy was traveling to the Gulf region to support mediation efforts.
It is unclear how these efforts fit into the 10-point peace plan that Iran conveyed to the White House through Pakistani intermediaries.
Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator in the Iran war and will host the first round of peace talks in Islamabad on Saturday. But it has also established close ties with China during the conflict, potentially helping to include Beijing in the mediation process.
Beijing and Iran have close economic ties, with China purchasing more than 80 percent of the country’s oil exports. But this relationship was largely interactive, and as the war dragged on, analysts became skeptical about whether China had the influence or desire to help end its ties with the Islamic Republic.
Its role in the ceasefire effort will strengthen Beijing’s efforts to portray itself as a responsible global power and broker of peace. Experts stated that China also mediated the talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan after weeks of cross-border clashes.
“[China’s] Portraying oneself as a peacemaker and a more stabilizing force in the current geopolitical landscape may gain some credibility, especially compared to Trump’s United States’ tendency to exacerbate conflicts in many parts of the world and lack a clear strategy for resolving them,” said Dr. Diplomat.
As part of these efforts, China and Pakistan last week released a five-point plan to restore peace in the Middle East that calls for securing shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and starting peace talks as soon as possible, but with no details on how this should be achieved.
In the past, similar Chinese efforts to promote peace — such as its 12-point plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine — have been criticized as mere paper proposals that lack detail and follow-through.
Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday, Iranian envoy Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said his country wants China to act as a security guarantor in the region and ensure that Iran is not attacked again.
“We hope that the different parties can guarantee that the United States will not continue the war; we hope that the UN Security Council will include major countries such as China and Russia, as well as mediator countries such as Pakistan and Türkiye. [will] “Let’s work together to guarantee peace in the region,” he said.
China’s foreign ministry did not directly respond to questions at Wednesday’s press conference about whether it was considering providing that guarantee.
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Lisa Visentin is the North Asia correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Beijing. He was previously a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
