CHINA has privately asked Iran to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing over the Iran-backed group’s rapid military advances along the Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.
Reuters reported on Friday that Houthi advances have increased risks to Saudi oil exports and shipping through the strategic waterway, the sources said, prompting Riyadh to seek China’s help.
Beijing has publicly called for restraint, dialogue and the restoration of safe navigation, but its private message to Tehran went further, with China urging Iran to use its influence over the Houthis to prevent the conflict from spreading further along energy routes vital to the world’s second-largest economy, the sources said.
It was unclear how the message was delivered or whether it was conveyed during a visit to China on Wednesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
The sources said Tehran responded that regional stability and peace depended on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Chinese officials did not explicitly threaten Iran or indicate that Beijing would use economic pressure if Tehran failed to act, the sources said.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing did not want regional tensions to spill over into Yemen and the Red Sea.
“China does not wish to see regional tensions further spill over into Yemen and the Red Sea. Escalating regional instability is not in the interests of any party,” it said.
“The sovereignty and security of all countries should be respected, and facilities vital to people's livelihoods must not be targeted. China calls for an end to actions that further complicate the situation and urges resolving issues through dialogue and negotiation,” it added.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry and the Saudi government’s media office did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Dangers Of A Wider Regional War
China has been Iran’s largest trading partner for more than a decade and remains its main oil buyer. Chinese purchases accounted for more than 80% of Iran’s seaborne oil exports in 2025, averaging about 1.4 million barrels per day, according to commodities data and analytics firm Kpler.
A senior Western diplomat in the region said Beijing was among the few capitals that could still pressure Iran to rein in the Houthis.
The Houthis, which emerged in the 1990s in opposition to Saudi Arabia’s Sunni religious influence in Yemen, are armed, trained and funded by Iran, according to Iranian sources and Western countries. The group forms part of Tehran’s anti-Western, anti-Israel “Axis of Resistance”.
Any Houthi threat to shipping through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait could further worsen the global energy crisis, particularly with the Strait of Hormuz already effectively shut following Iran’s actions there.
Sustained Houthi attacks on vessels or ports in the Red Sea would put pressure on the Middle East’s two main oil-export routes simultaneously, potentially opening a new front in the energy crisis and Iran’s confrontation with the United States.
One of the Iranian sources said Iran and its allies now exert pressure over both ends of the region’s key maritime network, adding that China depends on both routes.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said China’s interests in the Middle East extended beyond Iran, despite Beijing’s opposition to US pressure on Tehran.
About half of China’s oil imports come from the region, while trade between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council states totals about US$300 billion a year, he said.
“Iran can disrupt Hormuz. But at some point that leverage begins hurting the very power Tehran increasingly depends on,” Vatanka said.
China’s Dilemma
It remains unclear whether Tehran will act on Beijing’s concerns, according to the three Iranian sources.
China remains an important economic and strategic partner for Iran as the country faces continued hostilities with the United States, they said.
Beijing is among the few countries with the financial capacity to provide investment needed to sustain Iran’s oil industry and ease pressure on an economy battered by war and sanctions.
China has also demonstrated diplomatic influence in the region. In 2023, it brokered an agreement that restored diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after years of hostility.
But Beijing’s influence has limits. Critics in Iran have pointed to relatively modest Chinese non-oil trade and investment since the two countries signed a 25-year cooperation pact in 2021, particularly compared with China’s growing investment commitments in Gulf Arab states.
Two of the Iranian sources said China’s interests were only one consideration among Tehran’s competing strategic, economic and political priorities.
“Tehran and Beijing need each other. China is a factor Tehran cannot ignore, and Beijing wants Hormuz reopened and Red Sea shipping secured,” the Western diplomat said. - September 18, 2026
