China said Friday it will not join Washington's campaign to isolate Iran economically, rejecting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's call for Beijing to fall in line as officials in Beijing branded sanctions and pressure counterproductive to resolving the six-month US war on Iran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing on Friday that "sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue," urging "all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means."

"China always believes military actions, sanctioning, pressuring do not help solve the problem; it only builds up tensions in the current situation," Lin said, adding that such actions do "not fit the interests of any party."

Lin added that China "opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorised by the UN Security Council," and said Beijing "hopes all sides take responsibility to solve the current issues through political settlement."

Bessent tells Beijing to get with the program

The statement came after Bessent, asked whether Washington would pressure China to join the campaign, told CNBC that "many conversations are best to have in private," but called on Beijing "to get with the programme."

Bessent had said a day earlier that Washington would impose the "toughest sanctions in history" on Iran as part of the "greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world."

He said the US "will put its full might and force toward" nations found transferring money, buying oil, or conducting seaborne shipping with Iran. Washington would tell countries they are "either with us or against us," he said.

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