China asks Pakistan to mediate amid US-Iran conflict, Strait of Hormuz disruption

China has reached out directly to Pakistan to request mediation as the conflict between the United States and Iran continues to escalate.

Reuters, citing Pakistani sources, reported that China asked Pakistan to undertake new mediation efforts to ease US-Iran tensions when Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Shanghai on July 16.

"Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on other Gulf states are also hurting China's interests," a Pakistani official told Reuters. "China is quite unhappy with the current situation."

China and Pakistan subsequently issued a joint statement calling for an early truce between the United States and Iran and the resumption of negotiations.

Pakistan then met with Iranian Interior Minister Iskandar Momeni, who visited the country this week, in an effort to restart the stalled US-Iran talks, Reuters reported.

A Pakistani official said the message conveyed to the Iranian side was that "for talks to resume, Iran must first halt its attacks on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states."

China, the world's largest crude oil importer and a major export power, wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz — a critical trade route — stable and open.

As the US-Iran conflict drags on, both sides have in effect reverted to the situation before the truce MOU was signed, and passage through the Strait of Hormuz remains precarious.

Concerns have also grown that clashes between Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and Saudi Arabia could block the Red Sea corridor, considered an alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis have declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia. If they were to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the entrance to the Red Sea — as Iran has done with Hormuz, both Saudi Arabia and China could find themselves affected.

China has also directly pressed Iran to honor the truce MOU and resume negotiations.

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission and foreign minister, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers' meeting in Kyrgyzstan on Friday, saying China is "deeply concerned about the renewed tensions and deteriorating situation in the Middle East Gulf region."