The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was flying to Beijing for a meeting “upon invitation” with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on May 6.
The announcement from the Ministry, which rarely offers information on foreign officials visiting before they arrive, did not give any other information on Araghchi’s itinerary or what both sides are expected to discuss during his time in the Chinese capital. The top diplomat is widely expected, however, to discuss ongoing attempts at negotiating with the United States to extend the current ceasefire into a permanent peace. Iran reportedly sent a new peace proposal to Pakistan, which is serving as a mediator, to be reviewed by Washington.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry separately announced the travel on social media, also offering no clues other than that Araghchi is expected to meet with Wang Yi. Bloomberg observed that Wang and Araghchi enjoy an involved professional relationship and that Iran has relied on its ties to Beijing consistently during the current conflict with America and Israel. Wang and Araghchi have reportedly held three phone calls since the conflict began in February. Iran and China are close allies; China helped facilitate Iran’s entry into the anti-American BRICS coalition and is the world’s top buyer of Iranian oil, defying American sanctions.
President Donald Trump announced on February 28 that he had approved the launch of Operation Epic Fury, an initiative to degrade Iran’s ability to cause harm to America and its allies. Iran is the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism, fueling terrorist activity by government-controlled groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as well as proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Yemeni Houthis, and other groups.
Operation Epic Fury, alongside Israeli military operations, eliminated dozens of senior Iranian officials, leaving the government disjointed and reportedly prompting widespread infighting between the civilian wing of the government, led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, and the IRGC. The “supreme leader” of the dictatorship, who would normally mediate between the terrorists and the civilians, was killed on February 28. His son, current “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei, has made no public appearances or issued live statements, leaving unclear if he is in a physical state that allows him to do the job.
“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” President Trump wrote in a statement in April, explaining the added difficulty with negotiating a peace deal. “The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”
Some reports last week suggested Araghchi’s job may be on the line as Pezeshkian, technically his boss, allegedly fears he is too loyal to the IRGC. It is not immediately clear who would succeed Araghchi during such a turbulent period, however, and at press time he remains the foreign minister.
While active hostilities are currently paused, both Iran and America claim to be engaging in blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime byway for global commerce, particularly for shipments of oil and liquified natural gas (LNG). The Iranian regime claims that it is currently blockading the Strait to prevent any commerce from happening until America agrees to end the war, while the United States has its navy placed in the region to block Iranian ships from transiting. This weekend, President Trump announced the launch of something called “Project Freedom” to help ships associated with unrelated countries transit through the Strait with American military escorts.
The chaos in the Strait of Hormuz has arguably hurt China’s economy as Iran’s top oil buyer more than nearly any other country’s. The Chinese Communist Party has been unequivocal in demanding that all parties, including its ally Iran, stop blocking commerce in the Strait. The situation has become so critical for China that its dictator Xi Jinping — who would usually leave such statements to the Foreign Ministry, publicly demanded in late April that all related parties respect free transit in the strait. He notably made the remarks in a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the leader of one of the over a dozen countries Iran has bombed in response to Operation Epic Fury.
“President Xi emphasized that China calls for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, supports all efforts conducive to restoring peace, and stands for resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry explained in its readout of the phone call. “The Strait of Hormuz should maintain normal passage, as this serves the common interests of regional countries and the international community.”
Prior to Xi’s intervention, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun similarly demanded freedom for Chinese ships in the Strait, excluding any caveats exonerating Iran of blame.
“Let me stress that the Strait of Hormuz is a strait for international passage,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun asserted. “Ensuring unimpeded passage through the Strait serves the common interest of regional countries and the international community. China hopes that all sides will jointly prevent the situation from worsening.”
China has nonetheless continued to buy Iranian oil, attracting more sanctions by the United States. Last week, the Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against Hengli Petrochemical, a Chinese “teapot refinery” that specializes in refining Iranian oil.
“China-based independent teapot refineries continue to play a vital role in sustaining Iran’s oil economy, and Hengli is one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products, having purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum,” said the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The Chinese government issued a rare order commanding its companies not to comply with American sanctions.
“Leveraging the power of the rule of law, China has delivered a targeted response to U.S. long-arm jurisdiction,” the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily, stated. “The move defends the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises while heeding the international community’s widespread call to oppose hegemony, injecting justice into efforts to safeguard the international economic order.”
President Donald Trump is expected to personally visit China next week, where the country’s role in the ongoing crisis in the Middle East will likely be among the topics discussed.