China’s government has condemned the joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran and urged Gulf states to work together to oppose foreign influence, as the Middle East erupts into a wider conflict.
In the country’s initial comments Sunday, March 1, after the killing of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, China’s foreign ministry called the attacks “a grave violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security” and denounced them as an infringement on the “principles of the UN Charter and basic norms in international relations.” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said China was not informed in advance about the strikes.
Updates: Iran conflict continues; 3 US fighter jets crash in Kuwait
On Monday, March 2, China’s foreign minister held calls with his counterparts in Oman and Iran, reiterating the country’s opposition and calling for the resumption of talks to prevent further escalation.
The United States and Israel began striking Iran on Saturday, Feb. 28, in a campaign that killed the nation’s supreme leader. President Donald Trump said the operation killed dozens of top officials and hit more than 1,000 targets inside the country. Iran and its allied militias, such as Hezbollah, have retaliated with strikes against Israel and U.S. military bases across the Middle East. Iran’s targets have included several major Gulf cities, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera the strikes are not targeting Iran’s Gulf neighbors, but rather the U.S. assets in the region.
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The death toll has continued to climb while airstrikes continued in the region. So far, four U.S. service members have been killed, according to the Pentagon. Hundreds of people have been killed across nine nations, according to numbers reported by Al Jazeera, citing aid organizations, government officials and local media outlets. The vast majority of those were in Iran, the outlet has reported. Officials from the Iranian Red Crescent said 555 people were killed and hundreds have been injured there.
One Chinese citizen was also killed in the U.S.-Israeli strikes that hit Iran’s capital Tehran, according to Reuters. The country’s foreign ministry said that as of March 2, more than 3,000 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Iran.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026.
In the face of the broadening conflict, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a call with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi that China supports the Gulf nations in “safeguarding their sovereignty and national security,” according to an official statement summarizing the conversation.
Yi also expressed hope that the Gulf states would “oppose foreign interference,” in a nod to the expanding conflict that has now touched more than a half-dozen nations.
China has strong economic ties with Iran and many of the Gulf states. It is the largest trading partner for many countries in the region, amplified by the area’s energy resources and critical global trading routes. Oman has long been a diplomatic broker in the region, in particular between the United States and Iran.
Oman, which straddles the Strait of Hormuz opposite Iran, served as one of the key interlocutors during U.S.-Iranian negotiations that led to former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal. Oman has also been facilitating attempts at negotiations between the United States and Iran over the past several months.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations, aside of U.S.-Iran talks in Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2026.
In his call with Iran’s foreign minister, Yi reiterated China’s support of “sovereignty, security, territorial integrity,” according to a Chinese ministry statement. Yi also urged Iran to pay attention to the “legitimate concerns” of its neighbors in the region.
“While positive progress has been made in the current negotiations, the U.S. actions violate all international law and cross Iran’s red lines,” the statement said. “Iran has no choice but to defend itself with all its might. China has publicly expressed its position of fairness and justice and hopes to continue playing a positive role in preventing the escalation of regional tensions.”
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China condemns US-Israel strikes on Iran as ‘a grave violation’
