BEIJING: China said on Tuesday it will provide humanitarian assistance to Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Lebanon, targeted in US and Israeli strikes in the conflict now in its third week.
Beijing has urged the US and Israel to cease their attacks on the country, while also criticizing Tehran’s strikes against Gulf states housing US military bases.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the war had caused “grave humanitarian catastrophes” in Iran and other Middle Eastern nations.
“China has decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. It is hoped this will help alleviate the humanitarian plight faced by the local populations,” Lin told a press conference, without providing further details.
“China will continue to make every effort to promote peace and stop the war ... and to prevent further spreading of the humanitarian crisis,” he added.
China has sought to mediate in the war, with its special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, urging de-escalation.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has also said that the war “should never have happened” and called for an end to fighting.
US President Donald Trump has urged China to help Washington reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The vital sea passage, through which a fifth of global oil supplies normally pass, was effectively closed by Iran in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.
Iraq was in contact with Iran to try to arrange passage for some of its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s oil minister said.
“Communications are underway with the relevant authorities to authorize the passage of certain oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in order that we can resume our exports,” Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told local TV station Al-Sharqiya.
“We need to provide them with the identity of these ships, their name, their affiliation, who owns them,” he added.
