Cannot sit idly amid Iran-Israel war: China

BEIJING: China told Oman on Wednesday that “we cannot sit by” and let Israel-Iran situation escalate, reported AFP, after Russia earlier in the day warned the US against assisting Israel militarily.  

In a phone call with his Omani counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two countries “cannot sit idly by and let the region slide into an unknown abyss”.

The Chinese foreign ministry disclosed this in a statement.

According to Xinhua, he stressed the immediate priority was achieving a ceasefire and bringing an end to the conflict.

“China supports the joint statement on the Israel-Iran conflict issued by 21 Arab and Islamic countries, including Oman, and hopes that Arab and Islamic countries will unite and continue their efforts to push peace talks,” Wang said.

SITUATION MAY GET OUT OF CONTROL

Separately, Wang said China was “deeply concerned” that the conflict between Israel and Iran “may get out of control”.

“Israel’s acts of disregarding international law and international rules has caused the situation in the Middle East to suddenly become tense, and China is also deeply concerned that the situation may get out of control,” Wang told his Egyptian counterpart in a phone call, China’s foreign ministry said.

DO NOT HELP ISRAEL MILITARILY

Also on Wednesday, Russia warned that direct US military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East.

The Chinese and Russian reaction on a day which also saw US President Donald Trump claiming that Iran had reached out for talks, but it was too late.

Read more: Trump says Tehran has reached out, Iran rejects the lie

About the possible US strikes on Iran, he said, “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

However, Iran rejected the statement and said, “The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to “take out” Iran’s Supreme Leader.”