Ceasefire Day 37: Trump Discusses Iran in China

President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping met for a summit in Beijing Thursday. The U.S. delegation said the two leaders discussed the Iran War, now in its 37th day of a ceasefire, and the status of the Strait of Hormuz. 

In an interview with NBC News Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The Chinese side said they are not in favor of militarizing the Straits of Hormuz, and they’re not in favor of a tolling system, and that’s our position,” Rubio said.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Guo Jiakun told reporters Thursday only that the Middle East was among the topics the two leaders discussed, but did not directly say that China shares the U.S. view on opening the strait. China’s readout of the talks also made no direct mention of Iran. Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, reported, “The two heads of state also exchanged views on major international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula.”

One vessel was seized and escorted toward Iranian waters off the UAE coast Thursday, the UK Maritime Trading Organisation said, while India said an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank after an attack near Oman.

Iran has begun permitting Chinese vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz under new Iranian management protocols, Iran’s Fars news agency says, while shipping data shows several Chinese tankers, including a crude oil vessel, passed through the waterway on Wednesday.

Iran’s current stated conditions to end the conflict, as reported by the Iranian Tasnim News Agency, are the same conditions included in their May 2 proposal. They include an immediate end to hostilities and guarantees against renewed hostilities, the lifting of U.S. sanctions, Iranian management of the Strait of Hormuz, an end to the ongoing U.S. naval blockade, and an end to the war “on all fronts” including in Lebanon, where Israel has waged a deadly military campaign.

The U.S. has rejected the most recent proposal to end the conflict put forward by Iran. 

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli attacks killed at least 15 people across Lebanon on Wednesday, while Israel said three Israeli civilians were injured by Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.

The price of Brent Crude oil was $104 Thursday morning. Gas prices remained elevated, with AAA reporting the national average price of a gallon of regular gas at $4.53.