China tells Iran to avoid a return to war as Tehran says Hormuz 'ball is in America's court'

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, told a senior Iranian security official in Beijing on Monday that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, but urged all sides in the Middle East to seek political solutions "rather than returning to conflict", according to the Chinese readout of the meeting carried by the state news agency Xinhua.

Wang met Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on the same day that Iran's foreign ministry said the next move on reopening the Strait of Hormuz lay with the United States. "The ball is in America's court," spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, Gulf News reported. The meeting came on the eve of Tuesday's US midterm elections, with President Donald Trump still threatening further strikes on Iran.

What was said in Beijing

According to the Xinhua readout, Wang said China "will follow the initiatives and propositions" of President Xi Jinping on easing the situation in the Middle East. The readout quoted Bagheri Kani as saying Iran would "firmly uphold its security, sovereignty and territorial integrity, resist power politics and threats", while remaining "ready to engage and negotiate with all parties". Russia's TASS news agency reported the Iranian position in the same terms, citing the Chinese foreign ministry.

The Chinese readout did not mention the Strait of Hormuz, the United States or Israel by name. Reuters, in a report carried by the China-Global South Project, said China's special envoy would visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia; no dates have been announced.

Tehran's two-day offer

In Tehran, Baghaei said on Monday that Iran had shortened an earlier seven-day proposal to a two-day plan to restore security in the strait and resume negotiations, which "could be implemented within 48 hours" if Washington accepted Iran's conditions, according to Gulf News. Those conditions include an end to the US naval blockade. He called the two-day timetable "another indication of Iran's good-faith approach", AFP reported via Middle East Eye. Iran has passed its demands to the US through Qatar, and messages are still being exchanged through regional mediators.

Baghaei also said Iran did not regard its Gulf neighbours as enemies, but would respond if their territory or military facilities were used to threaten Iran, Gulf News reported.

The US has not publicly responded to the two-day plan. US Central Command rejected Iranian statements that Iran had not attacked civilians in neighbouring countries, accusing Tehran of targeting civilian infrastructure across the Gulf and saying Iranian attacks on civilian ships had killed more than 20 sailors in recent months, Gulf News reported. Iran has not commented on that figure, and it could not be independently verified.

Background

Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed to most shipping since the war with the US and Israel began in February. The strait normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil consumption, and the closure has pushed up energy prices around the world. Three days of talks between Iranian negotiators and Qatari mediators in Doha ended on Sunday. Trump said on Saturday that US forces still had "one or two" targets left in Iran.

China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil and has close ties with both Iran and the Gulf Arab states. Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, whose country has often carried messages between Iran and the US, was also in Beijing on a state visit on Monday.

What it means for India

India imports most of its crude oil and a large share of its cooking gas from the Gulf, much of which normally passes through Hormuz, and thousands of Indian sailors work on ships in the region. Any agreement to reopen the strait would ease pressure on fuel prices and shipping costs in India; a return to fighting would do the opposite.

What happens next

The US votes in midterm elections on Tuesday. Iran says it is waiting for an American answer through the mediators, and China's envoy is expected to travel to the region.