Trump to discuss Iran with Xi Jinping during China visit: Officials

Official says US president will likely ‘apply pressure’ on China over Beijing’s purchase of Iranian oil amid war.Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening to discuss the Iran-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38748" data-entity-type="event">Iran war and other issues with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping.White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said an opening ceremony and meeting will be on Thursday morning, and the trip will conclude on Friday. The US plans to host the Chinese leader during a reciprocal visit later this year.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3China calls for end to Iran-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38748" data-entity-type="event">Iran war and Hormuz to reopen during Araghchi visitlist 2 of 3Southeast Asia’s leaders confront fallout from Iran-war" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38748" data-entity-type="event">Iran war at ASEAN summitlist 3 of 3Seafarers trapped in limbo as US and Iran clash in Strait of Hormuzend of listKelly said that this week’s trip would be of “tremendous symbolic significance” and focus on “rebalancing the relationship with China and prioritising reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence”.Trump’s visit, initially scheduled for earlier this year but postponed in March due to the US-Israel war on Iran, comes as the US president struggles to contain the fallout from the war, both at home and abroad.A senior administration official told news outlets in an anonymous briefing on Sunday that Trump could “apply pressure” to China on Iran in areas such as oil sales and Tehran’s purchase of potential dual-role military-civilian goods.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week accused China of “funding” Iran.“Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism, and China has been buying 90 percent of their energy, so they are funding the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Bessent told Fox News.Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to US-Israeli attacks, restricting passage through a key artery of global energy transport.China has said that it wants to see the war end and hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arraghchi last week. At the same time, Beijing has refused to recognise Washington’s “unilateral” sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.