Iranian foreign minister to visit China: Beijing

BEIJING: Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Beijing this week and meet with his counterpart Wang Yi, China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday (Sep 15).

The two men - who also met on the sidelines of the BRICS conference in Delhi last week - will hold talks on Wednesday, the ministry said, as Beijing seeks to mediate in Iran's months-long war with the United States.

China is a top economic partner of Iran, buying much of its oil output, and also an important diplomatic backer.

The talks between their foreign ministers come just one week before an expected trip by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, where he will meet President Donald Trump.

The war in Iran will be a closely watched topic at that meeting, among other thorny issues ranging from trade to competition over artificial intelligence.

Beijing refuted reports this week that Chinese entities supplied Tehran with satellite images of a military base housing US troops in Jordan, before and after an Iranian strike killed three American soldiers.

"We firmly oppose groundless suspicion and accusations without evidence," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference on Monday.

The reports by the Wall Street Journal threaten to deepen tensions between Washington and Beijing ahead of the expected Trump-Xi meeting next week.

Trump has warned Beijing not to sell weapons to Iran, and Washington sanctioned three China-based satellite companies in May for enabling Iran's military operations.