Beijing hoped to “coordinate with Iran on international and multilateral occasions”, Wang told Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday, according to the foreign ministry.
China and Iran vow to work together for peace amid Israel-Gaza war
China and Iran vow to work together for peace amid Israel-Gaza war
“China’s stance on the Palestinian-Israel conflict is to pursue an immediate ceasefire, ensure humanitarian aid and resume a ‘two-state solution’,” Wang said, reiterating Beijing’s previous statements on its approach to the conflict.
He added that the international community should speak out more strongly and take a “more coherent stance” on the crisis.
The call came as skirmishes between Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon – and Israeli forces continued, with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant threatening his country would “act with all the means at its disposal” against Hezbollah through military actions if diplomacy did not work, according to the Times of Israel.
Iraq is also reportedly trying to rein in attacks on US military facilities by Iran-backed groups in the country.
03:02
Xi Jinping calls for Gaza ceasefire, says two-state solution only option for lasting regional peace
Xi Jinping calls for Gaza ceasefire, says two-state solution only option for lasting regional peace
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened as Israel intensified fighting with Hamas after a brief truce ended, causing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to invoke a rarely used power to warn the Security Council of the global threat posed by the war.
But Guterres’ call failed to push forward a draft resolution for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, which was ultimately vetoed by the United States.
Iran is believed to be a key military and financial backer of Hamas, but it has denied any involvement in the group’s sudden assault on Israel on October 7, which ignited the war in Gaza.
In his conversation with Wang, Amirabdollahian warned that the war in Gaza had “already expanded” in West Asia, according to Iran’s state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency.
“If the attacks on Gaza are not stopped immediately, there is the possibility that the region explodes at any time, with all parties losing control”, Amirabdollahian said, blaming Washington for not understanding the danger of the “further expansion of the war”.
In a speech at an international forum in Doha on Monday, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran did not believe in a two-state solution.
He repeated Iran’s proposal that a referendum should be held to determine the fate of Palestine, with only the descendants of those who lived there before 1948 being permitted to vote, Reuters reported.
Iran says it hopes to work with China to de-escalate Israel-Gaza war
Iran says it hopes to work with China to de-escalate Israel-Gaza war
Beijing has strengthened diplomatic exchanges and multilateral alliances with the heavily-sanctioned state this year, but it has taken a more cautious approach since the start of the war.
Wang called Amirabdollahian to discuss the Gaza war for the first time in October, about a week after the conflict broke out.