China on Tuesday urged "calm and restraint" as tensions between the US and Iran escalate following US President Donald Trump's new sanctions on Iran.
"We believe that blindly applying maximum pressure will not help solve the problem," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a press briefing in Beijing.
"Facts have proved that these measures have had the opposite effect and aggravated regional unrest," he added.
Relations between Washington and Tehran have rapidly deteriorated over the past few weeks, after the US accused Iran of being behind a series of attacks on ships in sensitive Gulf waters -- claims hotly denied by Tehran.
On Monday, Trump further raised the stakes in an escalating regional standoff by imposing sanctions against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military chiefs.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman denounced the sanctions as "the permanent closure of the path to diplomacy" with the Trump administration.
"We hope that the parties concerned will maintain calm and restraint and avoid further escalation of tension," Geng said.
Last week, Iran and the US teetered on the edge of military confrontation after Iran shot down a US spy drone and Trump launched a retaliatory strike, cancelling it at the last minute.
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Iran plays down threat of new US sanctions
Tehran (AFP) June 24, 2019
Iran on Monday played down the threat of new US sanctions as Washington was expected to tighten punitive measures on Tehran in a standoff sparked by the US withdrawal from a nuclear deal. Tensions have flared after Iranian forces shot down a US drone Thursday, the latest in a series of incidents including attacks on tankers in sensitive Gulf waters that have raised fears of an unintended slide towards conflict. Both the US and Iran have repeatedly said they want to avoid going to war, but the sp ... read more
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