U.S. would like China to use influence with Iran amid Middle East tensions: White House

Published November 16,2023

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The U.S. would really like China to make use of its affect with Iran to scale back regional tensions within the Middle East, the White House stated Thursday amid continued assaults on U.S. forces by Iranian proxies.

“We know that the Chinese have more direct lines of communication open to them, and we certainly would encourage them to use those lines to reiterate to the Iranians that we don’t want to see a deepening or an escalation of the conflict in the region,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby informed reporters.

Kirby declined to say if U.S. President Joe Biden conveyed the message to Chinese President Xi Jinping throughout their first face-to-face assembly in additional than a yr on Wednesday however reiterated that Washington “would like to see” China use its affect to scale back tensions.

He maintained that if assaults on U.S. troops within the area proceed, “we’re going to respond appropriately,” in a “time in a manner of our choosing.”

“We’ve already shown that we’ll take action to go at targets that actually get at the support that these groups are getting from the IRGC,” he stated, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

There have been 55 drone and missile assaults on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 15 which have resulted in accidents to 59 troops, based on the Pentagon.

The Defense Department has described the accidents as “non-serious,” saying they embrace traumatic mind accidents, twisted ankles and different minor accidents.

All 59 troops have since returned to obligation.

The U.S. has retaliated to the assaults with a collection of strikes which have focused Iran-backed amenities within the area.