Trump and Xi Discuss Iran in Wide-Ranging Call As US Presses China and Others To Break From Tehran

 

 

Washington : President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Iran in a wide-ranging call as the U.S. administration pushes Beijing and others to further isolate Tehran.

Trump said the two leaders also discussed a broad range of other critical issues in the U.S.-China relationship, including trade and Taiwan and his plans to visit Beijing in April.

"The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way," Trump said in a social media posting about the call.

The Chinese government, in a readout of the call, said the two leaders discussed major summits that both nations will host in the coming year that could present opportunities for them to meet. The Chinese statement, however, made no mention of Trump's expected April visit to Beijing.

 

Trump and Xi discussed Iran as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran over Iran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month. The U.S. president says he's weighing taking military action against the Middle Eastern country.

 

Trump is also pressing Iran to make concessions over its nuclear program, which his Republican administration says was already set back by the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June.

U.S. and Iranians officials said Wednesday they have agreed to hold high-level talks on Friday i n Oman. The talks had initially been slated for Turkey but were shifted to the Gulf country at Iran's insistence. A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the administration remains "very skeptical" that the talks will be successful but agreed to go along with the change in plans out of respect for allies in the region.

 

Trump announced last month that the U.S. would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. China is Iran's biggest trading partner.

Years of sanctions aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear program have left the country isolated. But Tehran still did nearly $125 billion in international trade in 2024, including $32 billion with China, $28 billion with the United Arab Emirates and $17 billion with Turkey, the World Trade Organization says.

 

China also made clear that it has no intention of stepping away from its long-term plans of reunification with Taiwan, a self-governing, democratic island operating independently from mainland China, though Beijing claims it as its own territory. The Trump administration in December announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones. The move continues to draw an angry response from Beijing.

"Taiwan will never be allowed to separate from China," the Chinese government statement said. "The U.S. must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence."