China’s Wang Yi meets Iran’s Araghchi in Beijing as Trump pauses US effort in Hormuz
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Wednesday morning, state news agency Xinhua reported, as US President Donald Trump paused a US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the pause was intended to allow time for a potential deal to end the war with Iran, while the American forces’ blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
Xinhua provided no further details on the Beijing talks, which marked Araghchi’s first trip to China since the conflict began. China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran give it a distinct channel of influence. Earlier in Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hoped Beijing would press Tehran to lift its chokehold on the strait, a vital artery for global energy shipments.
Iran’s effective closure of the waterway, through which major oil and gas supplies as well as fertilizer and other petroleum products flowed before the war, has driven fuel prices higher and rattled the global economy. Breaking Iran’s grip would deny its main source of leverage as Trump demands a major rollback of Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.
Trump announced the pause in a social media post Tuesday evening, saying the US effort that began Monday would halt for a short period to see whether an agreement with Iran on ending 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.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment or further detail on the negotiations, which had appeared largely stalled in a 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, US military leaders and Rubio said a nearly month-old ceasefire was still holding and that, while the conflict is not resolved, the initial major US military operation against Iran has concluded.
Before Trump’s announcement, Rubio told reporters that for peace to be achieved, Iran must agree to US demands on its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He described the day-old US push to help maritime traffic as a defensive operation aimed at thousands of civilian sailors stranded by the war.
“They’re sitting ducks, they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” Rubio said, adding that “at least 10 sailors have already died as a result.” On Monday, the US said it had opened a lane through the strait and sunk six small Iranian boats that had threatened commercial ships.
So far, only two merchant vessels are known to have transited the US-guarded route, with hundreds more still bottled up in the Persian Gulf. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the US military’s top officer, told a news conference that Iran’s renewed attacks had not reached the threshold of what Caine called “major combat operations,” and said Tuesday was a “quieter” day in the strait.
At the White House, Rubio emphasized that clashes linked to the reopening effort were defensive in nature: “There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first, OK? We’re not attacking them.” Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, signaled that Tehran had yet to fully respond to the US attempt to reopen the waterway.
No further details were released about the Beijing talks.