China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar that Beijing opposes military strikes on Iran in a phone call, state media reports.
Beijing, a close partner of Tehran, has called for a ceasefire and condemned the killing of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “serious violation”.
Speaking to Saar, Wang stayed clear of outright condemnation and said China advocated resolving issues through “dialogue and consultation”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
“The recent Iran-US negotiations were making obvious progress … Regrettably, this process has been interrupted by gunfire,” Wang said.
Reiterating Beijing’s opposition to the US-Israeli military strikes, Wang said, “Force cannot truly solve problems. Instead, it will only bring new problems and severe aftereffects.”
“China calls for an immediate halt to military operations to prevent the conflict from further spreading and getting out of control,” he added.
