China hosts Iran’s foreign minister as Trump pauses U.S. ship-guiding effort in Hormuz
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Wednesday, a closely watched encounter that came as U.S. President Donald Trump paused an American effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the pause was intended to allow time to pursue a deal to end the war with Iran, while maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports.
The meeting in Beijing, reported by China’s official Xinhua agency without further details, marked Araghchi’s first trip to China since the war began. China’s extensive economic and political ties with Tehran give Beijing a potentially influential role. In Washington, U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hoped China would relay to Iran the need to lift its chokehold on the key waterway. Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a vital artery for global oil and gas shipments, as well as fertilizer and other petroleum products — has driven fuel prices sharply higher and unsettled the world economy.
Rubio described the U.S. push, launched Monday to help reopen the strait to maritime traffic, as a defensive operation to aid thousands of civilian sailors stranded by the war. “They’re sitting ducks, they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” he said, adding, “At least 10 sailors have already died as a result.” The U.S.
said Monday it had opened a lane and sunk six small Iranian boats that threatened commercial ships. Trump announced the pause in a social media post Tuesday evening, saying it would last a short period to determine whether an agreement with Tehran to end the war in the Middle East could be finalized.
He said the move was based “on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran.” He added that the American forces’ blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment or further detail on the status of negotiations, which had appeared to stall in the conflict that began Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran. The United Arab Emirates said it came under attack from Iranian drones and missiles for a second day on Tuesday.
Even so, U.S. military leaders and Rubio insisted a nearly month-old ceasefire was still holding and that the initial major U.S. operation against Iran had concluded. Before Trump’s announcement, Rubio told reporters that any peace would require Iran to agree to the administration’s demands on its nuclear program and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“We would prefer the path of peace,” he said. Breaking Iran’s grip on the waterway would remove a key source of leverage as those demands are pressed. For now, Trump’s pause is designed to give diplomacy a window, with Washington urging Beijing to use its channels with Tehran.