“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.”

The US decision to attack Iran has sparked speculation that Tehran's actions will hinge on how its most powerful allies — Russia and China — respond.

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.