As Trump hosts Xi, China reiterates call for dialogue to end Iran war

Beijing Thursday reiterated its call for a peaceful end to the Iran war as US President Donald Trump was set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Protraction of the US-Iran conflict does not serve the common interests of the parties concerned or the international community,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.

He was responding to a question regarding Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's remarks to the ongoing 81st session of the UN General Assembly that Tehran will not allow freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while sanctions and a US blockade remain in place, according to a transcript of Guo’s news conference.

“It is vital for parties to choose peace, resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and restore peace and tranquility to the Middle East and Gulf region at an early date,” said Guo.

The statement from Beijing came as Xi is on a three-day state visit to the US, where he will hold summit-level talks with Trump.

Amid the ongoing US-Iran war, the Pentagon has imposed a military blockade of Iranian ports while Tehran has closed Hormuz, hitting global energy supplies.

"In waters in the Strait of Hormuz, ... we cannot let some have free access and gain their interests from a waterway while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggressions upon us, to impose insecurity upon us, to forbid us access to our own waterways," Pezeshkian told the General Assembly Wednesday.