Iran is allowing some vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday following talks with Beijing ahead of President Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Iran cleared the way for the Chinese ships to pass through the strait, allegedly using the new management system set up by the Islamic republic, the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies said.
China’s foreign minister and ambassador to Iran had allegedly reached out to Tehran to clear the way for its ships, some of which had been traveling through the Strait of Hormuz before the American blockade went into effect last week.
Prior to the war, China served as Iran’s largest oil buyer, with more than 1 million barrels a day exported to Beijing through the Persian Gulf.
While the conflict caused the Strait of Hormuz to close, Iranian and Chinese-linked ships had continued to sail through the passageway at lower volumes, with only a handful of ships crossing every day.
It remains to be seen if the Chinese ships cleared for travel paid a toll under the new system Iran has tried to enforce, or if the vessels would be allowed past the American blockade, which prohibits passage for any ship traveling to and from Iranian ports.
Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Iranian ambassador to China, attempted to portray the deal as a way to highlight Tehran’s potential as an “important partner” to Beijing.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was one of the main topics between Trump and Xi during Thursday’s summit, with the president claiming that his Chinese counterpart would happily assist in the goal.
“He did offer. He said, ‘If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help,’” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“Anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of a relationship with him,” Trump added. “He’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open. He said, ‘If I could be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help.’”
The summit came just hours after Iran sank an Indian cargo ship trying to cross the strait, officials said, the latest attack on a commercial vessel in the Gulf.
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