Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian Counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during a phone call on Sunday that Beijing is ready to coordinate with Moscow at the UN Security Council and play a role in de-escalating tensions in the Middle East, according to Reuters.
Wang said the only suitable solution to navigation tensions in the Strait of Hormuz is an immediate ceasefire, noting that China has consistently advocated political settlement of hotspot issues through dialogue and negotiation.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, targeting its leadership and triggering a new conflict in the Middle East. These strikes have killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and top security and defense officials in the country.
Iran has been responding with a retaliatory counterattack in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi as a retaliatory move, while launching barrages of missiles and drones toward Israel.
The conflict has spread across the Middle East, leaving thousands dead, triggering unprecedented disruptions to energy supplies especially after the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
As a critical waterway, the Strait of Hormuz handles approximately a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and roughly one‑fifth of all liquefied natural gas flows.
Due to the escalating tensions, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that the waterway was unsafe. Therefore, the authorities halted ship movements.
The phone call between the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers came ahead of a UN Security Council vote next week on a Bahraini-drafted resolution aimed at safeguarding commercial shipping in and around the strait.
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