China urges US to seek Iran nuclear talks after ‘new developments’

Diplomatic observers said Wang would try to mediate between Tehran and Washington, and there was urgency for Iran and the US to engage after Tehran announced it was enriching uranium – indicating it was moving its nuclear programme closer to weapons-grade enrichment levels.

“The core issue of the Iran nuclear deal is essentially whether Iran has the right to process enriched uranium,” Zhang Jiadong, an international relations professor at Fudan University, said.

“Despite all the recent disputes over Xinjiang and beyond, China and the US have to cooperate on this issue. It would be irresponsible for them to give up collaborating on it, and would weaken the international leadership of both countries.”

Zhang said China could play a mediation role, even if the task was made more difficult by the deterioration of China-US relations.

China signed a nuclear pact with Iran in 2015 along with the US, Britain, Russia, France and Germany, but Washington abandoned it in 2018 under then president Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

Wang’s trip to the Middle East follows disagreements between China and the US in Alaska over the South China Sea, Taiwan and alleged human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

In a meeting on Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Wang said Beijing appreciated the Islamic kingdom’s support on China’s policies on Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

On Thursday, in a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Wang called on Turkey to respect China’s core interests, including Xinjiang.

The European Union, the US, Britain and Canada have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over Xinjiang. Beijing has announced tit-for-tat sanctions against the EU, the US and Britain.

Despite their deep differences, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Alaska that the two sides had intersecting interests on Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan and climate change.