🔻Reuters: China asked Iran to use its influence to rein in Yemen’s Houthis

Reuters, citing three Iranian sources in a report, wrote that Saudi Arabia has asked China to, in a “private” consultation with Iran, urge this country to use its influence to rein in Yemen’s Houthis.

The request comes after the Houthis made significant advances in Yemen last week and seized coastal areas adjacent to the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

In its public positions, China called for restraint, dialogue, and the restoration of shipping security, but according to sources, Beijing’s private message went beyond the country’s public stance.

According to them, Beijing is asking Iran to use its influence over the Houthis to prevent further expansion of the conflict into energy routes—on which China, the world’s second-largest economy, depends.

According to these sources, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, Iran, in response, said that “stability and peace in the region are conditional upon ending the war with the United States.”

The state news agency Xinhua had reported that Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, in a meeting with Abbas Araghchi emphasized that Beijing does not want “regional tensions to spread further to Yemen and the Red Sea.”

It was previously reported that while in Beijing, Mr. Araghchi held a phone conversation with Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister, as well as with Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, about “the latest regional developments.”