Reuters, in a report citing three knowledgeable Iranian sources, said China has, after Saudi Arabia’s request of Beijing, privately asked the Islamic Republic to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis.

According to these sources, Riyadh, after the Houthis’ rapid advance along the Red Sea coasts and around the Bab al-Mandab strait, asked China for help; developments that have exposed Saudi Arabia’s oil exports and shipping to greater risk.

Reuters sources said Beijing’s private message went beyond China’s public positions, and the country asked Tehran to use its influence over the Houthis to prevent the expansion of fighting along energy transit routes.

The sources did not specify how this message was conveyed to Tehran, or whether it was raised during Abbas Araqchi’s Wednesday trip to China, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic.

According to Reuters sources, Tehran’s response was that stability and peace in the region depend on the end of the war by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic.

The sources said Chinese officials did not put forward a specific threat against Tehran, and did not say that if it refused to use its influence over the Houthis, Beijing would apply economic pressure on Tehran.