US President Donald Trump said that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping “feel very similar about Iran,” but Xi was less forthcoming.
Trump said both China and the US want the Strait of Hormuz opened and Iran’s nuclear weapons program ended, but Xi did not comment; Beijing has always formally backed nonproliferation, but has been less keen to back enforcement mechanisms and shown little willingness to be drawn into the Middle East conflict more broadly.
Beijing is Tehran’s biggest economic lifeline: It buys 90% of Iran’s oil exports, and has considerable leverage. It may be willing to use that leverage, but not without compensation, which would likely involve limiting US arms sales to Taiwan, one analyst wrote.