Iran’s top diplomat heads to China for talks as Middle East diplomacy falters

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in China on Wednesday, amid stalled diplomatic efforts to de-escalate conflicts in the Middle East.

The meeting comes during the countdown to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States for a summit next week with his US counterpart Donald Trump, when the war on Iran and disruption of energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are expected to be high on the agenda.

Fighting has also erupted again between Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis and Yemeni government forces as well as Saudi Arabia, and a scheduled regional meeting that was expected to address the conflicts and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed indefinitely.

A meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq, and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations – excluding Bahrain – was planned for Monday but was called off, according to Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi. According to reports, Iran later claimed the meeting was cancelled due to objections by Saudi Arabia.