Now I have sufficient sourced information to write the brief. Let me also search for the Scott Bessent Fox News quote — I already have it from the source story, but let me check what I have. I have enough information from the searches to write a well-sourced brief. Note that the Bessent quote appears only in POLITICO, so I’ll attribute it inline. Let me now compose the piece

Iran Races Beijing for Diplomatic Standing Before Trump-Xi Summit

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Beijing on May 6 for face-to-face talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, arriving just over a week before President Donald Trump was scheduled to begin a state visit to China on May 14 ^[1][2]. The back-to-back diplomatic engagements turned Beijing into the central arena for a parallel competition: Iran seeking to solidify its relationship with China before Trump could leverage the summit to pressure Beijing on Tehran, and Washington pushing China to use that relationship to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ^[3][4].

Araghchi's May 6 meeting with Wang was his first in-person visit to China since the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran began on Feb. 28, though the two foreign ministers had spoken by telephone at least three times since the outbreak of hostilities ^[3][5]. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the visit in advance, announcing that the two sides would hold formal talks ^[6]. In the meeting, Wang called for Iran and the United States to reopen the Strait "as soon as possible," while also stating that a "complete cessation of fighting must be achieved without delay" ^[3][7]. After the meeting, Araghchi said Iran trusts China to play a constructive role in ending the war and affirmed support for a Chinese four-point proposal on regional peace and stability ^[7][5].

The Beijing visit was the latest stop in a sustained diplomatic circuit by Araghchi. In late April, he visited Russia, Pakistan, and Oman, seeking international support and discussing conditions under which Iran-U.S. negotiations might resume ^[6][9]. Direct U.S.-Iran talks were held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, but ended without agreement ^[3]. Pakistan has served as a primary mediation channel between the two governments ^[3]. Trump paused a U.S. military escort operation through the Strait of Hormuz around the time of Araghchi's Beijing visit, citing progress toward a peace agreement, though combat operations had not formally ended ^[3].

Iran's urgency in Beijing reflects the economic stakes. Before the war, China purchased more than 80% of Iran's exported oil, a dependency that gives Beijing significant leverage over Tehran's financial position ^[4][20]. The Strait of Hormuz closure has in turn disrupted China's own energy supply chains, making the waterway a shared pressure point ^[12][17]. The war prompted Trump to delay his state visit from its originally planned late-March dates to May 14-15, a rescheduling confirmed by the White House ^[20][13]. During the summit itself, the Iran war was expected to figure prominently in Trump's agenda alongside trade and Taiwan ^[17][15].

The Trump administration has sought to use a partial thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions, following a prolonged tariff escalation in 2025, as leverage to encourage Chinese diplomatic pressure on Tehran [POLITICO]. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking on Fox News in the days before Trump's departure, called directly on Beijing to engage Iran diplomatically, saying "let's see them step up with some diplomacy and get the Iranians to open the strait" [POLITICO]. Washington has also sanctioned Chinese companies it accuses of purchasing billions of dollars of Iranian crude oil in violation of U.S. secondary sanctions, and the Chinese Commerce Ministry responded by ordering Chinese firms not to comply with those sanctions ^[3][4].

The Center for Strategic and International Studies assessed ahead of the summit that China would "try to avoid appearing to pressure Iran in a way that would seem to support the United States," while still encouraging Trump to reach an agreement that reopens the strait ^[17]. Beijing's calculus is complicated by the fact that its petroleum stockpiles, domestic coal baseload, and renewable energy capacity have partially insulated it from the immediate supply shock, but higher long-term energy costs remain a direct concern ^[17]. China purchased approximately 1.38 million barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2025, accounting for the bulk of Iran's export revenue, which gives Beijing structural influence over Tehran that Washington is pressing it to exercise ^[20][4]. Whether Beijing treats Araghchi's visit as a signal to Washington of its mediating role, or as an independent endorsement of Tehran's position, will shape how the U.S. interprets any Chinese diplomatic movement on the Strait in the weeks ahead ^[17][8].