China Demands Immediate Halt to Military Operations Against Iran

According to China Daily, Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, said at a news conference ahead of the opening of its annual session on Wednesday that, "China maintains that mutual respect and equality between all countries, big or small, is what progress through history demands and also the primary principle of the United Nations Charter."

Earlier on Monday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart that Beijing supports Tehran in defending itself against strikes by the United States and Israel, as the conflict in the Middle East widened further, Al Arabiya English reported.

Citing Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Al Arabiya English reported that Wang told Abbas Araghchi that Beijing "cherishes the traditional friendship between China and Iran, supports Iran in defending its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and supports Iran in protecting its legitimate rights and interests."

Wang also urged the US and Israel to halt military operations. China had "urged the US and Israel to immediately cease military operations, avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent the conflict from spreading to the entire Middle East region," he said, according to CCTV.

In a separate phone call with Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, Wang accused the United States and Israel of "violating the purposes and principles of the UN charter" by "deliberately instigating a war against Iran".

"China is also willing to play a constructive role, including upholding justice, striving for peace, and stopping the war through the platform of the UN Security Council," Wang told Albusaidi, as cited by CCTV.

According to Al Arabiya English, in another conversation with France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Wang warned that the world risked a "regression to the law of the jungle".

"Major powers cannot arbitrarily attack other countries based on their military superiority," Wang said, according to CCTV. He added that "the Iranian nuclear issue must ultimately return to the track of political and diplomatic settlement."

- ANI