HONG KONG (Reuters) -China said the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has damaged Washington’s credibility and Beijing was concerned that the situation “may go out of control”, its state broadcaster reported, following a U.N. Security Council meeting on Sunday.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said parties should restrain the “impulse of force, avoid exacerbating conflicts and adding fuel to the fire,” according to the state broadcaster CCTV.
Fu said parties, especially Israel, “should immediately cease fire to prevent the situation from escalating and avoid the spillover of war.”
Iran was hurt “but the United States credibility was also damaged- both as a country and as a participant in any international negotiations,” Fu said.
State media commentary late on Sunday said the U.S. move was extremely dangerous and provocative. The Global Times newspaper in an opinion piece, said external military interference would never bring peace, and only “deepen regional hatred and trauma.”
Separately China’s embassy in Iran said late on Sunday that most Chinese citizens in Iran had been evacuated safely, and those remaining were not in high-risk areas.
(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Coates)
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