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US works to prevent Iran from buying arms from China, says Pentagon chief

The Pentagon chief also stated that the United States has enjoyed "an astounding military success" on the battlefield with Iran

WASHINGTON, April 29. /TASS/. The United States is actively trying to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons from China, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.

"They're not. We're insuring and they're not buying Chinese missiles," Hegseth said at a hearing in the Committee on Armed Services of the US House of Representatives in response to a question whether Tehran purchased arms from China.

The Pentagon chief also stated that the United States has enjoyed "an astounding military success" on the battlefield with Iran.

Asked whether the United States was winning the war against Iran, Hegseth replied "Absolutely."

The Chinese Embassy in the United States earlier denied a CNN report that Beijing plans to supply Tehran with man-portable air defense systems through third countries over the next few weeks. "China has never supplied weapons to any of the parties to the conflict, and the information provided does not correspond to reality," diplomatic mission spokesman Liu Pengyu told TASS.

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Tehran decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to ships associated with the US, Israel and countries that backed aggression against Iran. On April 7, Washington announced a "double-sided" two-week ceasefire with Iran. According to the Emergency Medical Services of Iran, a total of 3,375 people were killed in US-Israeli strikes in the 40 days of the war.

On April 11, the parties held several rounds of talks in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. According to both Tehran and Washington, they were unable to agree on a long-term solution to the conflict due to multiple disagreements.

On April 21, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington intended to extend the ceasefire with Iran, which was set to expire in a few hours. The Iranian State Television announced later that Tehran did not intend to recognize the unilateral extension of the ceasefire announced by Washington and would act in line with its interests.

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