WASHINGTON
As President Donald Trump heads to China, the US administration said on Tuesday that senior American and Chinese officials had agreed last month that no country should be able to charge tolls on traffic through the region, in an effort to project consensus on the issue ahead of the summit.
China, which remains a major buyer of its oil, did not dispute that characterisation.
Trump is due to discuss the war with Chinese President Xi Jinping during meetings scheduled for Thursday to Friday, and is widely expected to encourage China to convince Tehran to make a deal with Washington to end the conflict.
US demands include ending Iran’s nuclear programme and lifting its chokehold on the strait. Iran has responded with demands of its own, including compensation for war damage, the lifting of the US blockade, and an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, where US ally Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Trump dismissed those positions as “garbage” on Monday.
While Washington diplomats pursued their pressures aimed at winning China’s support to US efforts against Iran’s fait accompli in the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not think he will need China’s help to end the war with Iran, even as hopes for a lasting peace deal dwindled and Tehran sought to cement its grip over the strait.
“I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise,” he told reporters.
More than one month after a tenuous ceasefire took effect, the two sides have made no progress on an agreement to end hostilities. Iran, meanwhile, has appeared to firm up its control over the Strait of Hormuz, cutting deals with Iraq and Pakistan to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the region, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Other countries are exploring similar deals, sources said, in a move that could normalise Tehran’s control of the waterway on a more permanent basis.
In the meanwhile, the US State Department told Reuters on Tuesday, that senior US and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, in a sign that the two countries are trying to find common ground on efforts to pressure Iran to give up control of the vital waterway.
The State Department said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the issue in an April phone call.
“They agreed that no country or organisation can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in response to questions about the call. The State Department has not previously provided a readout of the call in a break from its usual practice.
China’s embassy did not dispute the US account of the discussion, saying it hoped all sides can work together to resume normal traffic through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
“Keeping the area safe and stable and ensuring unimpeded passage serves the common interest of the international community,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters.
Tehran has demanded a right to collect tolls on shipping traffic as a precondition for ending the war. The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iran, and Trump has floated the possibility of imposing its own fees on traffic or working with Iran to collect tolls. After domestic and international pushback, the White House has since said Trump wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open up for traffic without any limitations.
Chinese officials so far have avoided direct mention of tolls, even while condemning the US blockade.
Two sources briefed on the Wang-Rubio exchange said Rubio had raised the prospect of Chinese vessels paying tolls, which they said appeared aimed at encouraging Beijing to apply more pressure on Tehran to bring the conflict to an end.
China maintains ties with Iran and remains a major consumer of its oil exports. Trump has been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.
In a subsequent meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, Wang said the international community shared a “common concern about restoring normal and safe passage through the strait” while reiterating that China supports Iran in “safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.”
China vetoed a US-backed resolution in the United Nations last month encouraging states to work together to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it was biased against Iran. That prompted US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, to argue that Beijing was tolerating Iran holding the global economy at gunpoint.
Washington together with Bahrain has drawn up another UN resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait, but diplomats say this is also likely to meet with Chinese and Russian vetoes if it comes to a vote.
That resolution also calls for an end to “efforts to exact illegal tolls” in the strait.
China has ordered its companies not to comply with US sanctions against Chinese oil refineries over purchases of Iranian crude, measures intended to isolate and pressure Tehran.