Wang talks to Araghchi, urges all parties to seize ‘every opportunity for peace’
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS group of nations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, June 10, 2024. PHOTO:REUTERS
BEIJING/WASHINGTON:
Diplomatic efforts intensified on Tuesday as major global and regional players pushed for an urgent return to negotiations amid the escalating war between the United States, Israel and Iran, which has involved several countries across the Middle East.
China led fresh calls to reduce tensions after Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, urging all sides to seize “all opportunities and windows for peace” and start talks as soon as possible.
According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang told Araghchi that “talk is always better than fighting” and stressed that “all hot issues should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, not through the use of force.”
The call, made at Iran’s request, underscored Beijing’s continued push for diplomacy, with Wang reiterating that peace talks should begin “as quickly as possible.” Araghchi, in response, reaffirmed that Iran seeks a comprehensive end to the conflict rather than a temporary ceasefire.
Araghchi also thanked China for humanitarian assistance. He stressed that ships could pass through the Strait of Hormuz, except those belonging to “countries currently in conflict” with Iran.
Parallel diplomatic efforts were also reported across the region and beyond. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff about “possible negotiations” between Washington and Tehran.
Abdelatty also spoke with his counterparts from Turkey, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France and Cyprus, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. Officials described diplomatic avenues as the only way to avoid widespread chaos in the region.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also warned that Israel’s “radical, maximalist and uncompromising stance” risked undermining diplomacy and insisted that the war must end through serious negotiations.
The flurry of diplomatic activity came a day after US President Donald Trump delayed attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure following substantial negotiations. American media reported that the secondary negotiations involved Pakistan, Turkiye and Egypt.
In Washington on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that speculation about the talks should not be considered final until they are formally announced, and stated that the United States would not negotiate through the press.
Meanwhile, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that his administration was talking to the “right people” in Iran and claimed that Tehran was eager to reach a deal, although Iran has repeatedly denied that negotiations are taking place.
Despite the conflicting narratives, Trump maintained that discussions were ongoing and said “we’re actually talking to the right people and they really want to get a deal done,” while suggesting that Iran’s leadership structure was fractured.
Expressing optimism that a deal is in sight, he said Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others are leading the negotiations. “We are in negotiations right now. They are doing it, along with Marco, JD, and several people are doing it.”
Discussing the points of negotiations, he said it suggested that Iran’s nuclear program was the main agenda. “They can’t have a nuclear weapon and they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. I don’t want to say it up front, but they have agreed that they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
However, Iran firmly rejected claims of talks, and its parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused Washington of trying to manipulate financial and oil markets, which have been under severe pressure since US and Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28.
Since then, Iran has also launched retaliatory attacks against countries hosting US bases, attacked Gulf infrastructure and effectively disrupted movement through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for about a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
While diplomatic exchanges continued, conflict on the ground also continued, with attacks intensifying on Iran, Israel and several states in the region, while Iran reportedly carried out missile and drone attacks across the Gulf region.
Authorities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates confirmed that an attack led to the death of a Moroccan civilian contractor for the UAE armed forces in Bahrain, as well as injuries to five defense personnel. Bahrain said the contractor was killed while responding to Iranian attacks.
The conflict has also affected infrastructure beyond the battlefield. Amazon Web Services reported that its data center operations in Bahrain were affected by drone activity, marking the second disruption of its cloud services in the Middle East since the conflict began.
In Iraq, US and Israeli airstrikes hit a military headquarters of an Iranian-backed umbrella group in western Iraq, killing at least 15 people. Meanwhile, a missile attack, blamed on Iran, on a Peshmerga base in Irbil killed six people and injured about 30 more.
Israel reported multiple waves of incoming missiles from Iran, and emergency services confirmed at least three injuries in southern Israel, including a moderate case involving a 40-year-old man and minor injuries to a woman and a baby.
Israeli authorities also reported repeated waves of missiles throughout the day, with sirens sounding in both the northern and southern regions, and damage reported to residential structures in Bedouin communities that lacked bomb shelters.
In Tel Aviv, police confirmed that damage in central areas was caused by an Iranian warhead carrying approximately 100 kilograms of explosives, which damaged homes and vehicles but caused no serious injuries.
Iran has stated that its armed forces will continue fighting “until complete victory,” without signaling any immediate intention to scale back operations. A senior Iranian military commander said the country’s forces remained “proud, victorious and steadfast.”
Meanwhile, Iran named a former Revolutionary Guard commander, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, as the new secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in an airstrike.
At the same time, Iran has reportedly expanded maritime traffic control measures in the Strait of Hormuz, introducing a “pay-to-pass” corridor between Larak and Qeshm islands. A Chinese-owned cargo ship was the first to pass through the corridor.
As the war continues on multiple fronts, the death toll has risen dramatically, with reports indicating more than 1,500 deaths in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 16 in Israel, and 13 US military deaths.
