China has called on the United States and Iran to move forward with negotiations towards a final agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East, while pressing for sanctions on Tehran to be lifted as soon as possible.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on July 1 that Beijing hoped Washington and Tehran would jointly implement the memorandum of understanding they have already signed and press ahead with talks. He argued such efforts would help secure an early and comprehensive settlement of the Iran question.
Guo reiterated China’s long-standing opposition to unilateral sanctions, saying the measures imposed on Iran should be removed without delay.
The framework, signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in mid-June, opened a 60-day window for negotiating a final deal to end the 2026 war.
It provides for the release of frozen Iranian funds and the lifting of sanctions on the country’s oil trade. Tehran has insisted those commitments be honoured before it moves ahead with the final round of talks.
Washington has said any broader sanctions relief would be tied to Iranian compliance and progress on the nuclear file.
The memorandum left the most contentious questions to the coming negotiations, among them the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and the future of its nuclear programme.
China is the largest buyer of Iranian crude and a crucial economic lifeline for the sanctions-hit Islamic Republic, giving Beijing considerable leverage over Tehran.
It has positioned itself as a broker in the conflict, opposing what it describes as illicit Western sanctions while calling for an end to the fighting.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy have signalled a readiness to ease their own sanctions in response to steps addressing Iran’s nuclear programme. The four insisted, though, that the country must never acquire a nuclear weapon.
The memorandum also reopened the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global energy supplies, to commercial shipping and lifted a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran has resumed crude exports since the blockade was lifted, with its parliament speaker saying the country had shipped tens of millions of barrels.
A comprehensive strategic partner of Russia, China has framed the sanctions dispute as a test of Washington’s willingness to honour the agreement it signed.
