By Sabiu Abdullahi
US President Donald Trump has urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to stop any form of Chinese assistance to Iran, according to the US ambassador to China, David Perdue.
Perdue disclosed the matter after Trump and Xi met at the White House, saying Washington considers any support from Beijing to Tehran unacceptable.
The ambassador said Trump “did a great job making sure China knows this is unacceptable,” and indicated that the US had observed some movement from China on the issue.
“We’ve seen movement on that already,” Perdue told Fox News. “That’s what commitment is. They assured us they aren’t doing that.”
Trump and Xi met again at the White House on Friday before visiting the National Archives, as the Chinese president concluded a three-day conference.
During remarks over tea in the White House Red Room, both leaders spoke positively about relations between the two countries.
“America is very happy about this visit,” Trump stated. “I’m sure China is very happy also.”
Xi described China-US relations as having reached a state of “strategic stability”.
The Chinese president also said he looked forward to meeting Trump at the APEC summit in China and the G20 summit in Miami.
Xi’s visit took place amid the ongoing 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, the Chinese president did not attend the gathering of world leaders.
The reported discussion over Chinese assistance to Iran comes amid heightened tensions involving Tehran and the United States and its allies.
