China's President Xi Jinping held a brief meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, as Beijing seeks to preserve ties with Tehran without appearing aligned with Iran ahead of Xi's planned meeting with President Trump later this month. The 10-member bloc condemned military strikes on Iran and backed members' right to civilian nuclear development under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but stopped short of promising military or economic support. Chinese state media did not report the Xi-Pezeshkian encounter, unlike its coverage of Xi's meetings with other leaders and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's publication of photos with Pezeshkian. Analysts described the muted publicity as deliberate management of Beijing's public posture, while noting that the meeting showed China was keeping communication open. China, the largest buyer of Iran's sanctioned oil exports, has sharply reduced imports through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began and drawn on its reserves. The Iran conflict is expected to feature prominently at the Trump-Xi summit, where possible U.S. secondary sanctions against Chinese banks or companies could prompt a stronger response from Beijing. The caution also follows U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's call at a G20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, N.C., for action on manufacturing overcapacity and trade imbalances linked to China's record $1.2 trillion trade surplus last year.