Trump will travel to China in May for a major summit to discuss trade and security. [Getty]
China could help resolve the dispute over Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium as part of a potential deal to end the war, a diplomat familiar with the matter has told The Associated Press.
The Trump administration is currently pushing Iran to give up its nuclear material and accept curbs on enrichment as part of a long-term peace agreement.
China, which has warm relations with Tehran, is considering an offer to either take custody of the uranium or help dilute it, the diplomat said.
Beijing has largely stayed on the sidelines of diplomatic efforts to end the six-week conflict but has made sharp criticisms of the American-Israeli war and condemned the US blockade on Iranian ports.
The offer has been made as Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepares to host a major summit with the US president next month.
Trump is attaching a lot of importance to the gathering, where he hopes to secure a historic grand bargain that settles long-term disputes over trade and security.
The US president was keen to portray the short-lived opening of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday as an American gesture towards China.
“China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also,” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
He has also credited Beijing with persuading Iran to enter ceasefire negotiations though Chinese officials have not commented on the issue.
Beijing’s intervention could be crucial in helping to solve the intractable nuclear dispute between Iran and the US.
Iranian officials have long refused to surrender their 440 kg of highly-enriched uranium to the US but may be more willing to hand it over to a more friendly country such as China.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran agreed to ship thousands of kilograms of low-enriched material to Russia.
The Trump administration has is continuing to demand that it take custody of the uranium, which is thought to be buried in nuclear facilities damaged by US airstrikes last year.
China is Iran’s largest trading partner and one of the only overseas buyers of its oil.
