China steps up Middle East diplomacy with Iran and Oman meetings

China is stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, including over the US-Israel war on Iran, following a lapse in activity.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday met a senior Iranian security official in Beijing, while President Xi Jinping hosted Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq for a landmark state visit.

Wang told Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, that dialogue and negotiation remained “the only viable path forward” as conflicts in the region “drag on and risk further spillover”.

He also reaffirmed China’s support for Iran’s sovereignty and security. Beijing has consistently blamed the US and Israel for starting the conflict.

Stalled

“China is very close to Tehran; it is the biggest trading partner of Iran, the biggest customer of Iranian crude,” said Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing.

However, Beijing’s diplomacy efforts have recently been stalled, she noted.

“It’s been a few weeks or even months [in which] China really hasn’t done much diplomatically towards … ending the war,” Yu said.

The meetings on Monday appear to illustrate that China is growing impatient with the lack of progress.

“I think China is very frustrated, and it wants to be seen to enter [the process],” Yu said.

Reflecting the step up in activity, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that Zhai Jun, Beijing’s special envoy on the Middle East, will visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month.

Meanwhile, Xi received Sultan Haitham, the first Omani head of state to visit China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1978.

The Chinese president said the Middle East and Gulf “should not become an arena for great-power rivalry and geopolitical conflict”.

Sitting across from Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, Oman is a key player in navigation on the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of global energy exports traversed before the US-Iran war restricted traffic.

China is one of the world’s largest energy importers. Xi described bilateral ties with Oman as being at a “new historical starting point”.

During the visit, China and Oman signed 14 cooperation documents, covering areas including artificial intelligence, green energy and supply chains, along with a currency swap agreement.

In a joint statement, they called for safe navigation to resume through Hormuz and urged the US and Iran to restart dialogue.

Yu said the conflict had made the relationship “more of a priority for both sides”, particularly given the disruption to China’s energy imports.

“Oman is particularly important because many of its ports are outside the strait,” she said.