China on Wednesday urged Iran and the United States to remain rational and exercise restraint, calling on both sides to return to the Islamabad memorandum and resume “substantive consultations” to ease regional tensions.Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi made the remarks during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, in Beijing. He also called on all parties to take effective measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the earliest to protect international energy supplies and global supply chains.Wang said China did not want tensions in the region to spill over further into Yemen and the Red Sea. He called for Tehran and Washington to rebuild a negotiation mechanism based on agreements reached so far.China seeks stable energy flowsBeijing, the main buyer of Iranian oil, has repeatedly called for the restoration of safe and normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, while largely avoiding direct confrontation with Tehran over its threats to shipping, according to Reuters.“The current situation once again demonstrates that the existing security architecture in the Middle East is inadequate and needs to be reformed and strengthened,” Wang said, according to China’s foreign ministry.The talks came a week before an expected meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington.
