China clashes with US over arms embargo on Iran

China accuses the United States of “peddling arms” and “interfering” in other countries’ affairs after Washington threatens sanctions against any nation taking advantage of the end of a UN ban to sell weapons to Iran.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned against anyone supplying arms to the Islamic Republic after Tehran said a longstanding UN embargo against such deals had expired.

China’s foreign ministry says Pompeo’s remarks were “utterly unjustifiable.”

“It is the US that peddles arms and ammunition everywhere, uses military trade to serve geopolitical interests, and even openly interferes in the internal affairs of other countries,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tells reporters.

Asked if China would now sell arms to Iran, Zhao does not directly address the issue but said Beijing would “handle military trade in accordance with its military export policy and its international obligations.”

— AFP