The Iranian Foreign Ministry refuted reports that China had called on Tehran to pressure Houthi militants in Yemen to halt attacks on cargo ships transiting through the Red Sea.
Spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters on Monday that a Reuters report published last week which claimed Chinese diplomats requested Iran rein in the Houthis to protect Chinese business interests was “unfounded.”
A report in the government-run Tehran Times newspaper added that “regional Resistance groups (aka the Houthis) operate independently,” implying Tehran does not have the leverage to influence militants in Yemen.
That same sentiment also appeared in Chinese Communist Party-run media outlets on Monday.
“Counting on China to pressure Iran to stop Houthi attacks is an overly simplistic notion because China is not in a position to pressure Iran, and neither do the Houthi completely follow Iran’s orders,” Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University told the Global Times newspaper.
U.S. officials have asked China repeatedly to leverage its economic influence with Iran to curtail the activities of both the Houthis and Tehran-backed Palestinian militants in Gaza, most recently at last weekend’s meeting in Bangkok between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
So far, though, it does not appear those requests for assistance have been acted on in any meaningful way.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? The denials from the Iranian foreign ministry and the media narratives emerging in China are to be expected, given that neither side can be seen to be acting in response to a U.S. request.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t change the reality that disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea adversely impact Chinese merchants, adding further uncertainty to China’s fragile economic recovery.
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