US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was running out of patience with Iran and pressed Tehran to accept a deal.
While he also revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had offered to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and pledged not to arm Iran in its war against the United States and Israel.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity in Beijing, a day after a two-and-a-half-hour summit with Jinping at the Great Hall of the People.
"I am not going to be much more patient," Trump said in an interview.
Trump Loses Patience With Tehran
As per Reuters, on Iran's refusal to close a deal, Trump was blunt. "Any sane person would make a deal," he said. "But they might be crazy." He warned he would not wait "much more" for Tehran to come to the table.
Responding to a question about the enriched uranium Iran possesses - which could be used to make a nuclear bomb - Trump agreed with Fox News' Sean Hannity that the materials are entombed in the rubble of the nuclear facilities the US and Israel bombed in the early days of the war.
He said it's not necessary for the US to actually retrieve the material - though he would prefer to do so.
"I would rather get it, but we have our eyes on it, you know. We know exactly what's happening there," he said.
He added: "I'd rather get it. I just feel better if I got it, actually, but it's - I think it's more for public relations than it is for anything else."
Trump also described the Iranian officials he was engaging with in nuclear talks as "reasonable," suggesting back-channel diplomacy was still in motion even as he kept military options open.
Jinping Offers Help, Vows No Military Equipment to Iran
The White House said both sides agreed that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.
The state media of China, reportedly, does not mention Strait of Hormuz in their statement.
Trump said Jinping had signalled a clear desire to see the conflict resolved. "President Xi would like to see a deal made. And he did offer. He said, 'If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help,'" Trump told Hannity. "He'd like to see the Hormuz Strait open."
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On the question of China arming Iran, Trump said Jinping gave him a direct assurance. "He said he's not gonna give military equipment. That's a big statement. He said that strongly," Trump said.
He added, however, that Jinping made clear China's economic interests were not on the table. "He said they buy a lot of their oil there and they'd like to keep doing that."
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas passes, has been largely closed since Iran shut it down following the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran at the end of February.
Trump said an effort was underway to reopen it for regional nations.
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