China urged the United States to play “a constructive role” in the Middle East on Friday after its top diplomat Wang Yi spoke with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken over the phone.
Blinken used the call to ask Beijing to use its influence to dissuade Iran from striking Israel, the State Department said. Concerns of retaliation by Tehran have grown after an Israeli strike on April 1 leveled an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus.