China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo

China supports Iran holding talks on its nuclear program with the United States and opposes the use of force and “illegal” unilateral sanctions to try to resolve the issue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday.

Beijing is willing to deepen coordination and cooperation with Tehran on international and regional affairs, Wang told Iran’s Abbas Araqchi during talks in the Chinese capital, according to a ministry statement.

“The Chinese side commends Iran’s promise not to develop nuclear weapons and respects Iran’s right to utilise nuclear energy peacefully,” Wang said.

The meeting came ahead of further US-Iran nuclear talks this Saturday and after Washington imposed sanctions on some Chinese refiners for buying Iranian oil in recent weeks.

The Iranian foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Araqchi had informed his Chinese counterpart of the latest situation of the “indirect talks between Iran and the US” and thanked China for its stance on Iran’s nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions.

US President Donald Trump has sought to pursue a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, including driving Iranian oil exports to zero.

In 2015, Iran agreed to temporarily curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions in a deal with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany. But in 2018 Trump, a year into his first term, pulled out of the pact.

Tehran and Washington started negotiations again earlier this month with the aim of placing limits on Tehran’s nuclear program.

China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil, has backed Tehran as US pressure mounts.

The US has so far sanctioned two China-based small independent “teapot” refiners for purchasing Iranian crude.

Last month Chinese imports of Iranian oil surged to an all-time high as buyers stocked up amid worries that further US sanctions on Tehran could tighten supplies.

China buys some 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, traders and analysts have said. The two countries have built a trading system that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to US regulators.

Wang and Araqchi also discussed US tariffs during Wednesday’s meeting.

“The US’s abuse of tariffs has completely lost popularity and isolated itself from the international community,” Wang said.

“The international community needs to stand united more than ever to uphold multilateralism and safeguard the basic norms governing international relations,” he told Araqchi.