BEIJING, Aug 11 — China supports Iran in defending its "sovereignty, security and national dignity", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in a phone call today, according to a statement by China's Foreign Ministry.
In the phone call, he repeated Beijing's denunciation of the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, saying the strike had violated Iran's sovereignty and threatened regional stability.
Iran and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh.
Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility for the killing, which has fueled concern that the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was turning into a wider Middle East war.
Iran has vowed to "harshly punish" Israel over the assassination.
Wang told Ali that the killing of Haniyeh had "directly undermined the Gaza ceasefire negotiation process and undermined regional peace and stability," said China's Foreign Ministry.
"China supports Iran in defending its sovereignty, security, and national dignity, in accordance with the law and in its efforts to maintain regional peace and stability, and stands ready to maintain close communication with Iran," Wang was quoted as saying.
Today, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian nominated Abbas Araqchi as the country's Foreign Minister. Araqchi had been Iran's chief negotiator in nuclear talks from 2013 to 2021.
— Reuters
