"Strengthening air defense capabilities is clearly an urgent priority for Iran at the moment," expert Hongda Fan told ...

As tensions between Iran and Israel threaten to escalate into a broader regional conflict, the global power with the most at stake, China, occupies a uniquely complex position - one that straddles ...

“If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said June 19. “If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater ...

Through the 12 days of the recent Israel-Iran conflict, China moved quickly to position itself as a potential mediator and voice of reason amid a spiralling regional crisis. The day after Israel ...

China is closely watching whether Israel and Iran can broker a ceasefire. Beijing gets much of its crude oil imports from Iran through a "dark fleet" of vessels to evade American sanctions.

China has also offered sharp criticisms of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and of its attacks on Iran, which would have made it unlikely for Israel to accept it as a mediator. China seemed to know ...

The war exposed the limitations of China’s influence in the Middle East, underscoring its struggles to convert economic power into geopolitical clout ...

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and stated, “We expect that China will express a balanced and fair position in relation to the war ...

China, heavily dependent on Middle East oil, has tried to cast itself as a peacemaker. But in the Israel-Iran war, Washington emerged as the real power broker.

LAST MONTH, as tensions escalated between Iran and Israel, China helped organise a Chinese film festival in the Iranian capital, Tehran. It opened with a blockbuster: “The Battle at Lake ...

Oil prices are still on the rise as the Israel-Iran missile war enters its seventh day. West Texas Intermediate crude, a U.S. price measurement, topped $76 per barrel, a five-month high.