For years, China has been one of Iran’s most important lifelines. China has bought almost all of its oil exports, shielded it diplomatically and helped it weather international isolation. Now, according to three Iranian officials, Beijing has used that influence for a different purpose: to press Iran to accept the cease-fire with the United States.

多年来，中国一直是伊朗最重要的生命线之一。中国买下了伊朗几乎全部的石油出口，在外交上为其提供庇护，并帮助其抵御国际孤立。如今，据三名伊朗官员透露，北京利用这种影响力达到了另一个目的：施压伊朗接受与美国的停火协议。

Iran’s decision to accept the two-week cease-fire proposal brokered by Pakistan came after diplomatic efforts by Pakistan and a last-minute push by China, according to the Iranian officials. China asked Iran to show flexibility and defuse tensions, they said.

据这些伊朗官员介绍，伊朗接受由巴基斯坦斡旋的两周停火提议是在巴基斯坦的外交努力以及中国在最后时刻的推促下作出的。他们表示，中国要求伊朗展现灵活性并缓和紧张局势。

The intervention reflects not only Beijing’s influence over Tehran but also its own stake in preventing a protracted war that could disrupt energy supplies or set off a global recession, as well as hurt Persian Gulf countries, with which China also has close relations. The deal also calls for the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

中国的介入不仅反映出北京对德黑兰的影响力，也表明中国自身同样不希望出现持久战，那将会扰乱能源供应或引发全球经济衰退，并伤害到与中国关系密切的海湾国家。该协议还要求立即开放霍尔木兹海峡。

Chinese officials have not publicly described Beijing’s involvement in the lead-up to the deal announced by President Trump on Tuesday night. Asked on Wednesday if China had helped persuade Iran to agree to the deal, a foreign ministry spokeswoman in Beijing neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, saying only generally that China would continue to “maintain communication with all parties and continue to work toward de-escalating tensions and bringing about a comprehensive cease-fire.”

中国官员尚未公开说明北京在特朗普总统于周二晚宣布该协议前所发挥的作用。周三，在被问及中国是否帮助说服伊朗同意该协议时，中国外交部的一名发言人既未证实，也未否认，仅笼统地表示，中国将继续“同各方保持沟通，继续为缓和局势、平息战火作出努力”。

The deal, which Iran described as a victory in which Washington had accepted its terms, came 90 minutes before a deadline set by Mr. Trump for Iran to accede to his demands or risk widespread devastation.

伊朗将这项协议描述为一场胜利，称华盛顿接受了它的条件。协议达成时，距离特朗普设定的最后期限仅剩90分钟——特朗普要求伊朗在此期限前接受要求，否则将面临大规模打击。

China’s moves in recent days reflect the delicate balance that Beijing is trying to strike. At the United Nations on Tuesday, Beijing backed Iran by joining Moscow in vetoing a Security Council resolution that could have paved the way for military action to open the Strait of Hormuz. But behind the scenes, by the Iranian officials’ description, China also urged Tehran to pull back from escalation.

中国近几日的举动反映出北京试图维持的微妙平衡。周二在联合国，中国站在了伊朗一边，与俄罗斯一起否决了一项安理会决议，该决议本可为以军事行动打开霍尔木兹海峡铺平道路。但按这些伊朗官员的说法，在幕后，中国也敦促德黑兰避免局势升级。

Wu Xinbo, a prominent foreign policy expert at Fudan University in Shanghai, said he believed that China had played an active role in achieving the cease-fire, not just by encouraging Pakistan to play a role as a mediator but also by directly encouraging Iran to strike a deal.

上海复旦大学著名外交政策专家吴心伯表示，他认为中国在促成停火方面发挥了积极作用，不仅鼓励巴基斯坦充当调解角色，也直接推动伊朗达成协议。

The top Chinese foreign affairs official, Wang Yi, made a flurry of calls to his counterparts in the region emphasizing the need for a cease-fire and for countries not to resort to force to reopen the strait, according to the foreign ministry. Last week, he met in Beijing with Pakistani officials, who came to the Chinese capital after hosting a meeting in Islamabad with officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to discuss a possible resolution of the conflict.

据中国外交部称，中国最高外交官员王毅与该地区的各国外长进行了密集通话，强调停火的必要性，并呼吁各国不要为了海峡的重新开放而诉诸武力。上周，他在北京会见了巴基斯坦官员，在来到中国首都之前，巴方官员刚在伊斯兰堡主持了与土耳其、沙特阿拉伯和埃及官员的会议，讨论可能的冲突解决方案。

Pakistan and Iran are both heavily dependent on China. Loans from China have become vital to keeping the heavily indebted Pakistani economy afloat. And China has played a central role over the last several years in supporting the Iranian economy, by buying almost all of its oil exports at a time when many other countries avoided doing business with Iran because of its nuclear weapons program.

巴基斯坦和伊朗都在很大程度上依赖中国。中国提供的贷款已成为维持债务沉重的巴基斯坦经济运转的关键支撑。而在过去几年中，中国在支持伊朗经济方面发挥了核心作用——在多国因伊朗核武器计划而避免与其做生意的情况下，中国购买了伊朗几乎全部的石油出口。

Shen Dingli, an independent international relations scholar in Shanghai, noted that China had sought to distance itself from Iran since the war began. Beijing sent only a vice foreign minister to the Iranian Embassy to express condolences on the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who had been killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

上海的独立国际关系学者沈丁立指出，自战争爆发以来，中国一直试图与伊朗保持距离。伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊在美以对伊朗的打击中丧生后，北京仅派了一位外交部副部长前往伊朗大使馆吊唁。

Mr. Wang, the foreign minister, in one of his calls with his Iranian counterpart, even urged Tehran to “pay attention to the legitimate concerns of its neighbors,” meaning the Gulf nations, Mr. Shen noted.

沈丁立还提到，外长王毅在与伊朗外长的一次通话中，甚至敦促德黑兰“重视邻国合理关切”，这里的邻国指海湾国家。

China has often tried to cast itself as a mediator on the world stage and a responsible global power, in unspoken contrast to the United States. It helped broker a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023, for example. But other attempts have been less successful. Beijing set forth a 12-point peace plan for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and a three-part proposal for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, both of which were vague and saw little apparent follow-up.

中国经常试图将自己塑造为世界舞台上的调解者和负责任的全球大国——与美国形成不言而喻的对比。例如，2023年，中国促成了沙特阿拉伯与伊朗之间出人意料的复交。但其他尝试则不那么成功。北京为俄乌战争提出了12点和平计划，并就以色列与巴勒斯坦的“两国方案”提出三点思路，但它们都较为笼统，后续推进也不明显。