China's vice president and foreign minister met the OIC Secretary-General in Beijing as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated. The talks followed Iranian warnings that any attack would be treated "as an all-out war," and President Trump's remark about an "armada" heading toward Iran. Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged a regional security partnership and political solutions to hotspot issues while U.S. naval movements were reported to be en route to the region.
China Hosts OIC Secretary-General in Beijing as US–Iran Tensions Escalate
FILE PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers his speech at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum in Beijing, China, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
BEIJING, Jan 26 (Reuters) - China's vice president and Foreign Minister met with the Secretary-General of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Beijing on Monday, the foreign ministry and state news agency Xinhua said.
The meeting took place amid rising tensions across the Middle East after an Iranian official warned the country would treat any attack "as an all-out war against us." Those remarks followed U.S. President Donald Trump's comment a day earlier that the United States had an "armada" heading toward Iran, saying the deployment was "just in case," and urging Tehran not to kill protesters or restart its nuclear programme.
Iranian Warning: "We would treat any attack as an all-out war against us," an Iranian official said.
An Iranian official in the region also said on Sunday that at least 5,000 people had been killed amid a wave of protests attributed to economic hardship, a figure that has heightened international concern about instability in the region.
During the talks, Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for the creation of a regional security partnership and urged political solutions to hotspot issues, the ministry said. Beijing framed its engagement with the OIC as part of efforts to promote diplomacy and de-escalation.
U.S. officials said an aircraft carrier and several guided-missile destroyers were expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days, adding to the sense of urgency around diplomatic efforts.
Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez.
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