China has called on Iran and the United States to exercise restraint and has stated that it will take measures to protect its interests should Washington impose secondary sanctions against countries doing business with Tehran.
“Sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issues. They will only heighten tensions and exacerbate a situation that is not in the interests of any party,” the China Daily quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian as saying.
His comments came a few hours before the United States was due to announce a new, large-scale economic campaign against Iran, including new sanctions which, according to President Donald Trump, would be “unprecedented”.
Lin called on the parties to resume dialogue as soon as possible and seek a political settlement.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to announce details of the new economic measures later on 24 August.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that ‘economic D-Day’ had begun ‘D-Day’ is likely an analogy with the start of the Allied landings in Normandy during the Second World War. against Iran, and warned that countries which continue to support Tehran risk becoming ‘global pariahs’. He said the campaign was aimed at severing the economic lifelines supporting the Iranian government and further isolating Tehran on the international stage.
Bessent also claimed that US President Donald Trump had “destroyed Iran’s military capabilities, destroyed almost 100 per cent of its military factories and buried its nuclear programme”.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibabadi refuted these claims, questioning the need for large-scale economic measures if Washington had indeed achieved its military objectives.