FILE PHOTO: China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on May 14, 2026. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI\/Pool via REUTERS\/File Photo<\/p>\n
Trump Says Patience With Iran \u2018Running Out\u2019 After Xi Talks on Hormuz<\/p>\n
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE\/DUBAI, May 15 (Reuters)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0U.S. President<\/p>\n
said his patience with Iran was running out and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz,\u00a0but China gave no indication it would weigh in.<\/p>\n
As he flew back from Beijing on Friday after\u00a0two days of talks\u00a0with Xi,\u00a0Trump\u00a0said he was considering whether to lift U.S. sanctions on Chinese oil companies buying Iranian oil. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil.<\/p>\n
His comments\u00a0shed no light\u00a0on whether Beijing might use its influence with Tehran to end a conflict it said should never have started.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking for any favors because, when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return,\u201d\u00a0Trump\u00a0said, when asked by a reporter on his plane home whether Xi had made any firm commitment to put pressure on the Iranians to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve wiped out their (Iran\u2019s) armed forces, essentially. We may have to do a little cleanup work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xi did not comment on his discussions with\u00a0Trump\u00a0about Iran, although China\u2019s foreign ministry issued a blunt statement outlining Beijing\u2019s frustration with the<\/p>\n
\u201cThis conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n
\u2018WE WANT THE STRAITS OPEN\u2019, SAYS\u00a0TRUMP<\/p>\n
Iran effectively shut the strait to most shipping in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks that began on February 28, causing an unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies.<\/p>\n
The U.S. paused its attacks on Iran last month but began a blockade of its ports. Tehran said it would not unblock the strait until the U.S. ended its blockade.\u00a0Trump\u00a0has threatened to attack Iran again if it does not agree a deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want them to have a nuclear weapon, we want the straits open,\u201d\u00a0Trump\u00a0said in Beijing, sitting alongside Xi.<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had received messages from the U.S. indicating\u00a0Washington was willing to continue talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that, with the advancement of negotiations, we will reach a good conclusion so that the Strait of Hormuz can be completely secured and we can expedite the normalization of traffic through the strait,\u201d he told reporters in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
Iran, which has long denied that it intends to build a nuclear weapon, has refused to end its nuclear research or relinquish its hidden stockpile of enriched uranium, to\u00a0Trump\u2019s frustration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not going to be much more patient. They should make a deal,\u201d\u00a0Trump\u00a0said in an interview aired on Thursday night on Fox News\u2019 \u201cHannity\u201d program, suggesting the enriched uranium only needed to be secured by the U.S. for\u00a0\u201cpublic relations\u201d\u00a0rather than practical necessity.<\/p>\n
Oil prices\u00a0LCOc1\u00a0rose around\u00a02% to around\u00a0$108 a barrel\u00a0on concerns over a lack of progress in resolving the conflict.<\/p>\n
U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest in around a year as traders anticipated the Federal Reserve may need to hike rates to rein in inflationary pressures from the blockade.<\/p>\n
After talks between\u00a0Trump\u00a0and Xi on Thursday, the White House said Xi had made clear China\u2019s opposition to any Iranian effort to charge a toll for use of the strait.<\/p>\n
Trump\u00a0said Xi also promised not to send Iran military equipment. \u201cThat\u2019s a big statement,\u201d\u00a0Trump\u00a0said on \u201cHannity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about U.S. sanctions on Chinese oil refineries buying Iranian oil, he told reporters on his plane: \u201cWe talked about that and I\u2019m going to make a decision over the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n
IRAN SAYS IT DOES NOT TRUST THE AMERICANS<\/p>\n
China has dismissed reports it had plans to supply weapons to Iran as \u201cgroundless smears,\u201d but\u00a0analysts\u00a0doubt Xi will want to push Iran hard or end support for its military, given its value as a strategic counterweight to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Talks on ending the war, which has become a liability for\u00a0Trump\u00a0ahead of key U.S. midterm elections in November, have been on hold since last week when Iran and the U.S. each rejected the other\u2019s most recent proposals passed via Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Iran would welcome any Chinese input, Foreign Minister Araqchi said on Friday, adding that Tehran was trying to give diplomacy a chance but\u00a0did not trust\u00a0the U.S., which has curtailed previous rounds of talks by launching air wars against Iran.<\/p>\n
Iran is prepared for a resumption of fighting as well as for diplomatic solutions, Araqchi said, reiterating that vessels not linked to states attacking his country could traverse the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinated with Iran.<\/p>\n
Before the war, about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas as well as fertilizer and other vital supplies passed through the waterway. Attacks on shipping have prevented almost all traffic, although\u00a0a huge Chinese tanker\u00a0and another\u00a0linked to Japan\u00a0crossed the strait on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The UAE said it would speed up\u00a0building a new pipeline\u00a0to its port in Fujairah just outside the strait, after a vessel heading to it was sunk this week and another was boarded and\u00a0redirected to Iran.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Iranians were killed during the U.S. and Israeli air strikes, and thousands have been killed in renewed fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
With a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon due to expire on Sunday,\u00a0discussions between Lebanese and Israeli officials\u00a0were set to resume on Friday. Hezbollah opposes the talks, in which Israel is insisting on the group\u2019s disarmament.<\/p>\n