Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has warned that Washington is falling into a “strategic trap” dug out by Israel and would lose what remains of its credibility in West Asia if it wages another war on Iran.

Velayati, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, wrote in a post on his X account on Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s “sterile diplomacy” in Beijing and his “empty-handed” return from China reflected a “calculation crisis” in Washington.

Trump visited China earlier this week and held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to discuss a host of issues, including the war on Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

After the meeting, the US president said he was considering whether to lift US sanctions on Chinese oil companies buying Iranian oil, despite Washington’s illegal blockade against Iran.

Xi did not comment on his meeting with Trump about Iran, but China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the war, saying it “should never have happened, has no reason to continue.”

Velayati also pointed to Abu Dhabi’s anger over reports of a secret visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UAE, along with “distorted data fabrication” by the Pentagon as other examples of the calculation crisis in the United States.