China on Wednesday denied again that a ship intercepted by the United States contained a “gift” from Beijing for Iran, a day after US President Donald Trump made the accusation.
Trump had said that an Iranian-flagged ship seized by US forces in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday contained “a gift from China”, which “wasn’t very nice”.
His comments came after former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley wrote on X that the ship was travelling from China to Iran and was linked to chemical shipments for missiles.
Responding to Haley’s accusations at a regular news briefing on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the ship was “a foreign container ship”, and that China opposed “any malicious association and speculation”.
Asked about Trump’s comments on Wednesday, Guo said China had already stated its position.
“As a responsible major country, China has always set a good example in fulfilling its due international obligation,” he added.
Trump had said Tuesday that he was “a little surprised”, given he thought he had an “understanding” with China’s President Xi Jinping.
A week ago, Trump announced that Xi had assured him there would be no Chinese weapons deliveries to Iran.
Beijing is a close partner of Tehran and has called the US-Israeli strikes on Iran illegal, but it has also criticised attacks on Gulf countries and called for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened.
The seized vessel, Touska, had been sailing towards the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Sunday.
The guided missile destroyer USS Spruance fired several rounds from a five-inch calibre gun to disable the Iranian ship’s propulsion after directing it “to evacuate its engine room”, CENTCOM said in a post on X.
The incident comes with tensions high in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, which has been virtually closed since the start of the Middle East war.
Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but closed it again the following day in response to the US maintaining its blockade on ships travelling to and from Iranian ports. (AFP)
