China helping Iran would be ‘totally unacceptable,’ Trump told Xi during visit: US ambasador

US President Donald Trump told visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping this week that Beijing providing any assistance to Iran would be “totally unacceptable,” according to the US ambassador to China, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to CNBC on Friday, David Perdue said the issue of Chinese support for Iran has been a recurring subject in US-China discussions and was raised again during Trump and Xi’s White House talks on Thursday.

“We made it very clear to them weeks ago that any help that they would give Iran, whether it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence, or parts, or military equipment, was totally unacceptable,” Perdue said. “President Trump made that very clear again yesterday.”

Perdue said Washington remains concerned about what he described as possible indirect Chinese support for Iran, while acknowledging that the US has no direct evidence of China helping Tehran keep the contested Strait of Hormuz closed.

“There’s been indirect support, we think, but there’s no direct evidence,” he said, adding that Washington has made its concerns clear to Beijing.

Perdue said Trump and Xi had agreed that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open, describing the understandings as significant progress.

He also said Washington had seen indications that Beijing is paying attention to US warnings over Iran.

“We’ve seen evidence that they have listened to us, they’ve pulled some things down,” Perdue said.

On Thursday, Trump and Xi held talks and attended a state dinner. Trump said the two countries have “never gotten along better,” while acknowledging that they “represent different systems.”

Xi said the leaders held “sincere and in-depth exchanges” and reached a common understanding on several issues, adding that the discussions provided “new strategic guidance” for China-US relations.

China is one of the largest importers of Iranian oil, as the two countries maintain a “comprehensive strategic partnership” driven primarily by economic ties and discounted energy imports.

Last year their bilateral trade volume climbed to over $41 billion.