While Beijing has offered itself as a peacemaker, it is unlikely to wade into the conflict directly, or to supply arms to Iran, say analysts. This is because it wants to avoid confronting the United States, for which military intervention against Iran remains a real possibility.

“If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday. “If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly.”

China hosted a summit for African leaders last week while the Trump administration weighed adding two dozen more African countries to its travel ban list.