Trump warns Xi on support for Iran, receives assurances, US envoy says

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against providing support to Iran during talks in Washington, DC, this week and received assurances that China would not do so, the U.S. ambassador to China said Sept. 25.

The warning came amid reports that China had supplied Iran with shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers and that Tehran had found ways to evade sanctions on its oil sales with Chinese help.

David Perdue, Trump's ambassador to Beijing, said in a CNBC interview that Trump reiterated to Xi that direct or indirect support for Iran was "totally unacceptable."

Asked separately on Fox News if that meant China would stop assisting Iran, Perdue said U.S. officials received assurances from Beijing on Sept. 24.

"We've seen movement … on that already. That's what the commitment is. They assured us yesterday they're not doing that," Perdue told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program.

Trump later on Sept. 25 acknowledged that the two leaders discussed the war that the United States and Israel launched on Iran in late February, without giving details.

U.S. lawmakers had urged Trump to confront Xi over reports of Chinese assistance to Iran, raising concerns that Chinese entities may have given targeting help…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/