Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 12, 2026. Tens of thousands of pro-government citizens took to the streets across Iran on Monday, responding to calls from Iranian authorities to demonstrate solidarity. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Amid mounting US-Iran tensions, US President Donald Trump has further escalated rhetoric about potentially striking Iran, threatening to "take very strong action" in a CBS News interview broadcasted on Tuesday night.

Addressing a media question regarding US President's related claim, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that "We hope the Iranian government and people will overcome the current difficulties and uphold stability in the country. We oppose external interference in other countries' internal affairs, object to the use or threat of force in international relations, and hope parties will act in ways conducive to peace and stability in the Middle East," Mao added.

The US president also claimed on Tuesday that he has canceled "all meetings" with Iranian officials, one day after he announced that any country doing business with Iran would pay a tariff rate of 25 percent on any business conducted with the US, per the Xinhua News Agency.

The US is withdrawing some of its personnel from its military bases in the Middle East as a precaution amid heightened regional tensions, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous US official. Qatar has also confirmed that personnel are departing the US base over "regional tensions."

The Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity told the Reuters that direct contacts between Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had been suspended, reflecting mounting tensions. 

The Iranian official was quoted by Reuters as saying that Tehran had asked US allies in the region to "prevent Washington from attacking Iran," saying that Tehran has told regional countries that US bases in those countries will be attacked if US targets Iran.

"US fantasies and policy toward Iran are rooted in regime change, with sanctions, threats, engineered unrest, and chaos serving as the modus operandi to manufacture a pretext for military intervention. This playbook has failed before. The Iranian people will defend their country - and, most assuredly, it will fail again," Iran's UN mission posted on X on Wednesday. 

The WSJ reported that Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar are telling the White House that an attempt to topple the Iranian regime would rattle oil markets and ultimately hurt the US economy, according to Arab Gulf officials on Tuesday.

Citing tracking data and reports, Turkish media Haberler reported that a US MQ-4C Triton drone was flying over the Gulf of Oman, off the coast of Iran.

The possibility of US military strikes against Iran in the future cannot be ruled out, Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University in Xi'an, told the Global Times.

As a direct attack would require a relatively long period of preparation, Wang noted that as a result, Washington is more likely to resort to economic approaches to intensify pressure on Iran in the short term, making economic coercion a key option at this stage.

During recent wave of protests in Iran caused by economic difficulties, the role of Elon Musk's Starlink has been in focus. Over the weekend, Iran intensified efforts to jam Starlink's internet service, which is used by protesters to share videos, according to Wall Street Journal.

The US' belligerent rhetoric has raised concerns among other countries and organizations. 

The United Nations is concerned about the increase of military-like rhetoric around the situation in Iran, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said on Tuesday. "Of course we're very concerned about the increase of military-like rhetoric that we're seeing around the Iranian situation," Dujarric said at a daily briefing in response to a question posed by Xinhua.

Russia firmly opposes subversive external interference in Iran's domestic political processes, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, according to Russia's Tass news agency on Tuesday.

Zakharova also stressed that Washington's threats to launch military strikes against Iran are totally unacceptable. "Those who intend to use externally induced unrest as a pretext for repeating the aggression against Iran committed in June 2025 must be aware of the disastrous consequences such actions would have for the situation in the Middle East and for global international security," she said. 

Just about two weeks into the new year, the US has already launched a strike on Venezuela and issued threats over Greenland, moves that have created a chilling effect across the international community and projected an image of raw intimidation of Washington, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

Should the US continue to escalate pressure and interference in Iran, its reputation for abusing power and acting as a global bully is likely to become even more deeply entrenched, Li said.