BEIJING: China said Sunday it “strongly condemns” the United States and Israel’s killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , calling again for a halt to military actions. The killing was “a serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security, a trampling on the aims and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations”, Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this,” it added, calling for an “immediate halting of military operations”. The condemnation came just after Chinese state media reported a phone call between Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. READ MORE: China urges immediate ceasefire after US, Israel strike Iran During the conversation, which state news agency Xinhua said was initiated by Lavrov, Wang said that the “blatant killing of a sovereign leader and the incitement of regime change” by the United States and Israel was “unacceptable”. China is “highly concerned” that the “situation in the Middle East could be pushed into a dangerous abyss”, Wang told Lavrov, according to Xinhua . READ MORE: UN Security Council to meet on Iran conflict “The international community must send a definite and clear message opposing the world’s regression to the law of the jungle,” Wang said. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called the killing “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law”. Beijing has in recent days urged its citizens in Iran to evacuate the country “as soon as possible”. Reiterating those calls Sunday, the foreign ministry said that Chinese passport holders could leave Iran on visa-free land routes into Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. Putin calls Khamenei killing ‘cynical violation’ of ‘morality and international law’ Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday slammed the United States and Israel’s killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in as a “cynical violation” of morality and law. Tehran has stood by as one of Russia’s closest allies throughout Moscow’s Ukraine offensive and the Kremlin had earlier called for restraint in the run-up to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. On Sunday, the Kremlin published a letter that Putin sent to Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in which the Russian leader expressed his “deepest condolences for the assassination of” Khamenei. He said the killing was “carried out in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law”. Putin said Khamenei “will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made an enormous personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations”. He asked Pezeshkian to “convey my most sincere sympathy and support to the relatives and loved ones of the Supreme Leader, to the government and to the entire people of Iran”. Russia on Saturday condemned the strikes on Iran as a “dangerous adventure” that could spark “catastrophe” in the region. Also Saturday, Moscow’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, with the Russian ministry stressing that the call was held “at the initiative of the Iranian side”. In 2025, Russia and Iran signed a strategic partnership treaty aimed at strengthening ties – including in military matters.