Trump, Xi discuss Iran in wide-ranging call
Trump said the two leaders also discussed a broad range of other critical issues in the US-China relationship, including trade and Taiwan and his plans to visit Beijing in April.
Washington, Feb 5 (AP) US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Iran in a wide-ranging call as the US administration pushes Beijing and others to further isolate Tehran.
Trump said the two leaders also discussed a broad range of other critical issues in the US-China relationship, including trade and Taiwan and his plans to visit Beijing in April.
"The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realise how important it is to keep it that way," Trump said in a social media posting about the call.
The Chinese government, in a readout of the call, said the two leaders discussed major summits that both nations will host in the coming year that could present opportunities for them to meet. The Chinese statement, however, made no mention of Trump's expected April visit to Beijing.
Trump and Xi discussed Iran as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran over Iran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month. The US president says he is weighing taking military action against the Middle Eastern country.
Trump is also pressing Iran to make concessions over its nuclear programme, which his Republican administration says was already set back by the US bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June.
White House officials on Tuesday said special envoy Steve Witkoff is slated to take part in talks with Iranian officials later this week.
Trump announced last month that the US would impose a 25 per cent tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. China is Iran's biggest trading partner.
Years of sanctions aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear programme have left the country isolated. But Tehran still did nearly USD 125 billion in international trade in 2024, including USD 32 billion with China, USD 28 billion with the United Arab Emirates and USD 17 billion with Turkey, the World Trade Organisation says.
China also made clear that it has no intention of stepping away from its long-term plans of reunification with Taiwan, a self-governing, democratic island operating independently from mainland China, though Beijing claims it as its own territory.
The Trump administration in December announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than USD 10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones. The move continues to draw an angry response from Beijing.
"Taiwan will never be allowed to separate from China," the Chinese government statement said. "The US must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence." Neither Trump nor the Chinese government in its statement raised whether the US leader's repeated calls for a US takeover of Greenland, the Arctic territory controlled by Denmark, came up during the conversation.
Trump has made his case for the US taking over the strategic island as necessary to rebuff Chinese and Russian encroachment, even as experts have repeatedly rebuffed Trump's claims of Chinese and Russian military forces lurking off Greenland's coastline. Denmark and Greenland as well as several European government leaders have pushed back against Trump's takeover calls.
Separately, Xi also spoke on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Xi's engagement with Trump and Putin comes as the last remaining nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States is set to expire Thursday, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.
Trump has indicated he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons but wants to involve China in a potential new treaty.
"I actually feel strongly that if we're going to do it, I think China should be a member of the extension," Trump told The New York Times last month. "China should be a part of the agreement." The call with Xi also coincided with a ministerial meeting that the Trump administration convened in Washington with several dozen European, Asian and African nations to discuss how to rebuild global supply chains of critical minerals without Beijing.
Critical minerals are needed for everything from jet engines to smartphones. China dominates the market for those ingredients crucial to high-tech products.
"What is before all of us is an opportunity at self-reliance that we never have to rely on anybody else except for each other, for the critical minerals necessary to sustain our industries and to sustain growth," Vice President JD Vance said at the gathering.
Xi has recently held a series of meetings with Western leaders who have sought to boost ties with China amid growing concerns about Trump's tariff policies and calls for the US to take over Greenland, a Danish territory.
The disruption to global trade under Trump has made expanding trade and investment more imperative for many US economic partners. Vietnam and the European Union upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership last month, two days after the EU and India announced a free-trade agreement. And Canada struck a deal last month to cut its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products. AP