Trump: China pledges no weapons to Iran as Hormuz opens

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that China has committed to halting weapons sales to Iran following a personal exchange with Chinese General Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping.

Trump tied the development directly to an American declaration that the Strait of Hormuz is now permanently open to international shipping.

“I had heard that China’s giving weapons to Iran,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo at Fox Business. “And I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that, and he wrote me a letter saying that essentially he’s not doing that.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump warned that while the U.S. still wanted to negotiate with Iran, America was “very good at fighting.”

“China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz,” he wrote on social media. “I am doing it for them, also – and the World. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, fat hug when I get there in a few weeks.”

The announcement follows U.S.-Iran peace talks in Islamabad last weekend.

The U.S. delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, negotiated for more than 21 hours before talks broke down over Iran’s refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Tehran’s demands included control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a regional ceasefire, reported CNBC.

Beijing’s position on weapons transfers is not surprising given the economic consequences.

More than 90% of Iranian oil exports flow to China, with China selling it to other Asian states, notes the China-Global South Project.

China imports roughly 50% of its crude oil, refined fuels, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas through the Persian Gulf.

But looming even larger is a potential permanent trade deal with Trump that China’s Xi needs to be seen as a win.

Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing in mid-May, with the administration signaling through the Fox Business interview it wants relations stable enough to keep the summit on track.

Meanwhile, the Hormuz blockade, now fully operational, has already demonstrated its bite.

CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper confirmed via social media that within 36 hours of implementation, U.S. forces had completely halted trade going into and out of Iran by sea, noting that an estimated 90% of Iran’s economy depends on international seaborne commerce.

The arms pledge by Xi comes after U.S. intelligence agencies detected preparations for new weapons deliveries to Iran by China, several sources told CNN.

Intelligence reporting suggested China was planning to provide new air defense weaponry to Iran in the coming weeks including anti-air missile systems known as MANPADs that can be fired from the shoulder.

China’s foreign ministry characterized the reports as false.

“These reports are entirely fabricated” said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun. “If the US insists on using this as an excuse to impose tariffs on China, we will respond resolutely.”

But Beijing’s denials have a well-worn quality.

China supplied Iran with a variety of weapons before the conflict.

However, those systems failed to perform effectively against U.S. and Israeli strikes, noted the Washington Times.

One analyst at the Stimson Center offered a candid assessment of what Beijing’s current restraint actually means.

“No one should be surprised that China will rearm and rebuild Iran down the road,” Yun Sun, director of the China Program, told Military.com. “But given the upcoming Trump visit to China, China most likely will not take immediate moves. There is no need to spoil the good momentum they have been building with POTUS.”

In other words, Xi is playing for the summit, not for Tehran.

Washington on the other hand is playing the global game.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said Tuesday that Trump was right to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Iranians desperation for a deal is only increasing with President Trump’s highly effective naval blockade in effect,” she said according to Fox News.

She added that Trump “will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Her comments were made in response to Chinese claims the blockade would “aggravate confrontation, escalate tension, undermine the already fragile ceasefire and further jeopardize safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Fox.

Instead, the blockade is demonstrating the fragility of the Iranian pre-war dominance of world trade exercised by their chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, upon which China relied, especially to dominate Asian states.

“By blockading the Strait, Washington has effectively taken a page from Iran’s own playbook, and weaponized the very chokepoint that Tehran sought to exploit,” said Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council.