China urges the United States to stop abusing sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian in Beijing on Monday.
At a regular press briefing in Beijing, Lin said China will resolutely defend the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies, in response to recent U.S. sanctions imposed on a Chinese oil refinery over alleged links to Iran.
"China opposes illicit unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law. We urge the U.S. to stop willfully slapping sanctions and using long-arm jurisdiction. China will firmly defend the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies," Lin said.
China urges US to stop abuse of sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction: spokesman
U.S. President Donald Trump met with his national security team on Monday to discuss a new proposal offered by Iran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed.
Leavitt said that it was unclear whether the meeting had concluded, but that the relevant proposal was indeed under discussion. However, she did not "want to get ahead of the president or his national security team" in making any statements.
Iran has informed mediators of a proposed three-phase framework for negotiations and said talks could resume if the United States agrees to it, according to Iranian media.
The first phase focuses on ending U.S.-Israeli aggression and securing guarantees that fighting will not resume against Iran and Lebanon. During this stage, Iran would not discuss any other issues. If agreement is reached on the first phase, discussions will move to a second phase centered on the management of the Strait of Hormuz. The third phase will address Iran's nuclear program.
Iran, through Pakistani mediators, has presented the United States with a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage, U.S. online media outlet Axios said Sunday, citing a U.S. official and two sources familiar with the matter.
The new proposal is aimed at breaking the current stalemate in the talks and bypassing the internal disagreements within the Iranian leadership about the scope of nuclear concessions it is willing to make, the report said.
However, reaching such a deal would leave Trump with little leverage to press Tehran to give up its stockpile of enriched uranium and suspend uranium enrichment, the report added.
Trump meets with his national security team to discuss new Iranian proposal
