China has called for a ceasefire and diplomatic talks to end the conflict in the Middle East as it stretched into a third day, AFP reports.

“The most urgent task is a cessation of military operations and preventing a spillover of conflict,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a news conference, urging “a resolution through dialogue and negotiation”.

One Chinese citizen was killed in Tehran, she said, where Israel and the United States have been carrying out strikes in an operation that killed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader.