US President Donald Trump revealed that he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in a letter not to provide weapons to Iran, reports Reuters. Trump's announcement comes after US intelligence agencies indicated that China is preparing deliveries of defense systems to Iran.
Trump's statements were made in an interview broadcast on Wednesday by Fox News.
In the taped interview, Trump did not specify when the letter exchange took place. Last week, he threatened China with 50 percent tariffs if it provided military aid to Iran.
According to Trump, Xi responded that China does not supply weapons to Tehran.
“I wrote him a letter asking him not to do it, and he wrote me a letter saying basically he's not doing it,” Trump said.
Trump also said he does not expect developments in the world oil market, related to the war with Iran, and changes in Venezuela to affect the dynamics of the meeting he has scheduled with Xi next month. “He needs oil. We don't,” Trump said.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe China is preparing to deliver air defense systems to Iran in the next few weeks, three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments told CNN recently.
It would be a risky move, given that Beijing has said it helped broker the fragile two-week truce that has put a pause in the war between Iran and the US.
