EXPLAINER
Trump heads to Beijing for high-stakes talks with Xi Jinping as tensions over the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz continue to escalate.
United States President Donald Trump departed for Beijing on Tuesday for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the two leaders would hold a “long talk” on Iran even as trade remains the main focus of the visit.
The summit comes as tensions over the war involving Iran continue to escalate, with Tehran accusing Washington and Israel of fabricating “justifications for atrocity”, while Trump insists the conflict will end “peacefully or otherwise”.
Meanwhile, Kuwait said it arrested four alleged members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accused of planning “hostile” activities after attempting to enter the country via Bubiyan Island, while Qatar has accused Tehran of “weaponising” the Strait of Hormuz and using it to “blackmail” Gulf states as vital energy supplies remain trapped in the region.
Here is what we know:
In Iran
- Iran presses US on peace proposal: Iran’s chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Washington must accept Tehran’s latest peace plan or face failure. His comments came after Trump, who faces growing pressure over the war’s impact on the US economy, said on Monday the US-Iran ceasefire was on “life support” and that he was considering restarting naval escorts through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Report says Iran retains missile strength: The New York Times reported Tuesday that classified US intelligence assessments say Iran still has substantial missile capabilities, with about 70 percent of its mobile launchers and pre-war missile stockpile still in action, and has restored access to 30 of 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz.
War diplomacy
- Chinese supertanker crosses Hormuz: Chinese crude oil supertanker Yuan Hua Hu was reportedly transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, ship-tracking data showed, passing Iran’s Larak Island while heading out of the Gulf.
- Hezbollah rules out disarmament talks: Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said his group’s weapons were not part of forthcoming ceasefire negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. “This is an internal Lebanese matter and not part of negotiations with the enemy,” he said before the third round of Lebanon-Israel talks scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
- Qatar warns over Hormuz pressure: Qatar’s prime minister said Iran should not use the Strait of Hormuz, blocked since early in the war, as a means of “blackmail” against Gulf states. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani also said a recent visit to Washington was aimed at supporting Pakistan’s mediation efforts to help end the conflict.
- Iran defends Hormuz stance: Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Almigdad Alruhaid said Iranian officials reject suggestions they are using the Strait of Hormuz as a weapon, insisting vessels can still move safely through routes coordinated by the IRGC Navy even as Tehran tightens control over the strategic waterway.
- Australia joins Gulf mission: Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia will join a “strictly defensive” mission led by France and the United Kingdom to secure shipping through the strait, once it is established, and contribute a surveillance aircraft to protect the United Arab Emirates from Iranian drone attacks.
- Turkiye sees chance for de-escalation: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he believes both the US and Iran now have “enough will” to stop the conflict, warning that further escalation would deepen global economic instability and regional tensions. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Fidan urged both sides to pursue a lasting settlement, saying the war’s impact extends far beyond the two countries.
The Gulf
- UAE gas facility hit by war: The UAE’s main gas processing complex, one of the world’s largest, will not resume full capacity until next year, its operator said, after it was hit in the Iran war. ADNOC Gas said the Habshan site in Abu Dhabi was operating at 60 percent.
- Kuwait arrests alleged IRGC operatives: The country said it arrested four men accused of belonging to Iran’s IRGC after they tried to infiltrate Bubiyan Island by sea and injured a Kuwaiti soldier. Authorities said the suspects, arrested on board a fishing boat allegedly chartered for “hostile actions”, admitted they had been tasked by the IRGC with carrying out the operation. Iran has rejected the allegation and condemned the arrest of its nationals.
In the US
- Trump on Xi: Trump said he does not believe the US needs China’s help to end the war involving Iran, but confirmed the issue would still feature in his talks with Xi Jinping this week. “We’re going to have a long talk about it,” Trump told reporters before departing for Beijing. However, he also said: “We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn’t say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control.”
- Trump says war’s end will bring down inflation: Facing growing domestic pressure over rising prices linked to the conflict, Trump said the war “will not be long” and argued its end would trigger a sharp drop in oil prices and inflation. He told reporters that hundreds of oil tankers were waiting to leave the region and predicted energy markets and stocks would surge once the conflict ends.
- US says Iran war has cost $29bn: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the war has cost Washington at least $29bn in munitions and equipment over 74 days, excluding damage to bases. He said military escalation remains an option. Democrats pushed back amid growing public concern over rising gas prices and uncertainty surrounding the war’s objectives.
In Lebanon
- Israel pounds Lebanon: Lebanon on Tuesday urged the US ambassador to Beirut to pressure Israel to halt its attacks, after it pounded the country with air attacks on Monday despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
- Hezbollah says it struck an Israeli tank in Lebanon: Hezbollah claimed it hit an Israeli Merkava tank near the town of Hula in Lebanon’s Nabatieh region, as the group’s leader Naim Qassem pledged to turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israeli forces amid escalating fighting.
- Lebanon fears ‘lost generation’: Experts warn Israel’s war on Lebanon has displaced hundreds of thousands of students, destroyed schools and deepened inequalities in an education system already strained by economic crisis. While many schools shifted to online learning, experts say students are still falling behind, with citizenship education increasingly sidelined in a country already divided along sectarian lines.
- Deadly attack hits Lebanese paramedics: Reporting from southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto said an Israeli attack killed at least two Lebanese Civil Defence paramedics and the wounded man they were trying to evacuate near Tyre, as continued bombardment deepens the humanitarian crisis and displacement across the south.
