China and Pakistan on Friday called on the United States and Iran to end fighting and return to the negotiating table, after they met in Shanghai, according to a government statement issued by Beijing.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar jointly “expressed concern over the deterioration of the current situation, calling on the involved parties to immediately cease hostilities… (and) return to dialogue”, the statement by Beijing’s foreign ministry said.
Both countries have sought to mediate in the months-long Middle East conflict, which rekindled with renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz a month after the signing of a preliminary deal aiming to end the war.
That agreement was “hard-won”, Wang said.
“Peace is before our eyes, (we) cannot fall at the last hurdle and even more so cannot lose what we have gained,” he added.
