U.S. President Donald Trump has made it clear to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that any assistance from China to Iran would be unacceptable.
The statement was made by U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue in an interview with CNBC. He said Washington had conveyed the message to Beijing weeks ago and that Trump reiterated it during his meeting with Xi at the White House.
“We made it very clear to them weeks ago that any help that they would give Iran whether direct or indirect, whether intelligence, parts or military equipment was totally unacceptable. President Trump made that very clear again yesterday. This is an ongoing drumbeat,” Perdue said.
The U.S. ambassador also said that the two leaders are beginning to build a relationship based on a degree of trust and are working together on difficult issues.
“It was a very candid and open conversation. Every time they talk, we see a higher level of intimacy on these difficult issues that we are dealing with,” he added.
Trump and Xi met at the White House on Thursday as part of the Chinese president’s visit to Washington. According to Reuters, Perdue later said that Beijing had assured Washington that it was not assisting Iran.
The talks were also attended by senior officials from both countries, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
