Iran says it's ready to end the war from a position of strength — but puts the move on Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared last Friday that the time had come to end the months-long war with the United States — not from exhaustion, but from what he called a position of power. The move, he insisted, was Iran's to make on its own terms.

It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity.— Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian President

The declaration came as the United States escalated its economic campaign against Tehran, and as China — Iran's most consequential trading partner — warned Washington that targeting Chinese companies over their Iranian oil purchases could trigger retaliation, potentially opening a new front between the world's two largest economies.

The three-way pressure is reshaping what had appeared to be a fragile path toward a negotiated end to the conflict. Iran is keeping the Strait of Hormuz partially closed while the US maintains a naval counter-blockade. As of Monday, provisional Vortexa data cited by Reuters put daily traffic through the strait at around five million barrels — a sharp drop from the more than 20 million barrels a day that moved through before the war began.

Pezeshkian was defending a memorandum of understanding agreed with the US in June, which hardline lawmakers in Iran's parliament have attacked as a capitulation — particularly over provisions related to reopening the Hormuz Strait. The president pushed back sharply.

They cannot find even a single clause in this agreement that indicates capitulation. All the commitments concern the other side.— Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian President

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said he approved the deal despite having 'different views,' according to Asharq Al-Awsat. The internal divisions in Tehran reflect how politically charged the question of ending the war has become.

While Iran frames the moment as one of strength, Washington is framing it as one of mounting pressure. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled a sanctions package directed at 60 individuals, companies and vessels — among them entities in mainland China and Hong Kong — and, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, pledged that the campaign would 'collapse' the Iranian regime. Major Chinese banks believed to be involved in facilitating Iranian oil trade were nonetheless left off the target list.

Asked whether major Chinese financial institutions could face sanctions, Bessent said nobody was beyond the reach of US measures, without specifying targets or timing, according to Middle East Eye.

That ambiguity alarmed Beijing. China's foreign ministry warned, as reported by the Financial Times and cited by Middle East Eye, that it would take 'all necessary measures' to protect its interests if secondary sanctions were significantly extended to Chinese businesses. The ministry's spokesperson also restated Beijing's long-standing objection to unilateral sanctions applied without UN Security Council approval and urged a return to dialogue and de-escalation.

The stakes for Washington are considerable. According to Middle East Eye, China takes in roughly 90 percent of Iran's oil exports, with much of that trade flowing through smaller independent refiners called 'teapots'; while China's large state-owned refiners have largely steered clear of sanctioned Iranian crude, private refiners have kept purchasing it. Beijing's dominance over supplies of several critical minerals relied upon by American manufacturers and high-tech industries also gives it leverage it has shown a readiness to deploy in earlier trade disputes.

Adding to the sensitivity of the moment, US President Donald Trump is expected to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington within the coming weeks to discuss the fragile trade truce reached last year, according to Middle East Eye.

Chinese scholars offered a nuanced read of Beijing's position. Wang Dong of Peking University told the Financial Times it remained unclear whether Washington's secondary sanctions threat was primarily a pressure tactic or would translate into sweeping measures — but that Beijing would defend its economic interests if Chinese entities were targeted. According to Zhu Feng of Nanjing University, Beijing has no desire to be pulled directly into the US-Iran conflict, yet its worry over the economic fallout from ongoing Gulf disruption is deepening; China's message to Tehran, he added, is that talks must go on.

Iran's foreign ministry, for its part, condemned the US sanctions plan as 'economic terrorism' and 'crimes against humanity,' calling for the 'perpetrators and instigators' to face trial, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. China also criticized Washington's approach, saying sanctions and pressure would not resolve the conflict.

Xi has recently met Jordan's King Abdullah II, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart, with regional conflicts featuring in both discussions, according to Middle East Eye — a sign that Beijing is working diplomatic channels even as it resists being drawn into the conflict directly.

The next pressure points are clear: whether Washington moves against major Chinese banks, whether the June memorandum of understanding holds against domestic opposition in Tehran, and whether the partial Hormuz closure — and the US naval convoys quietly threading oil through the strait's southern sector — can sustain a fragile status quo long enough for talks to advance.

Why it matters — The convergence of Iranian defiance, a fragile June peace framework, and China's threat to retaliate over US sanctions means the path to ending the conflict now runs directly through US-China economic relations — with global oil supplies and a looming Trump-Xi summit both hanging in the balance.

Reported by aawsat.com, english.aawsat.com, middleeasteye.net, washingtonpost.com