China says Hawaii meetings add positivity to military relations with U.S.

A Chinese defense ministry spokesman said Thursday that the Hawaii meetings of the China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) contributed to a stable and positive bilateral military relationship featuring equality, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence.

Jiang Bin, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference in response to a relevant media query.

"Representatives from the Chinese and U.S. militaries held the second working group meeting and the annual session of the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) for 2025 in Hawaii from Nov. 18 to 20. The meetings were held to implement the consensus between the two countries' defense ministers on strengthening communication and exchanges between troops on the ground to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation and manage risks and crises, and added positive factors to building a stable and positive bilateral military relationship featuring equality, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence. Regarding exchanges in the near future, the two sides have maintained contact at the working level and will release information in due course," said Jiang.

China says Hawaii meetings add positivity to military relations with U.S.

Thousands of Iranians attended a funeral on Tuesday to mourn 165 students killed in Saturday's U.S.-Israeli strikes on a school in the city of Minab.

While Iran condemned Israel for the attacks, Israel said it was not aware of the strike on the school.

Joint military strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran on Saturday morning have triggered a sharp escalation across the Middle East in recent days, setting off waves of missile exchanges, mounting casualties, and far-reaching political and security repercussions.

Israel continued its strikes on Tehran, with Iran's state media putting the death toll from the past four days of joint U.S.-Israeli attacks at 787 as of Tuesday.

Iran has carried out more retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, including on targets in Israel, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the Strait of Hormuz is now closed, and warned that any vessels attempting to pass through will be targeted.

U.S. President Donald Trump told the New York Times on Sunday that the conflict with Iran could continue for more than a month.

Thousands attend funeral in Iran for students killed in US-Israeli strikes