US allies in the Middle East are coming under growing pressure to pick sides against China, posing a challenge to Beijing’s plans for a bigger economic foothold in the region, according to a former senior Chinese diplomat.

Hua Liming, China’s ambassador to Iran from 1991-1995, also said a new landmark deal brokered by the United States between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was part of a bigger US strategy to isolate Iran, one of China’s economic partners in the region.

Last week, the UAE became the third Arab state after Egypt and Jordan to recognise Israel, in return for Israel agreeing to suspend a controversial annexation plan of the occupied West Bank.

Hua, who was also China’s ambassador to the UAE from 1995-1998, said the deal was only one step in the US’ wider Middle East plan.

“What would come next could be the US continues to broker peace deals between Arab states and Israel so as to downplay the Palestine issue but to unite Arab states to suppress Iran,” Hua said.

He said China welcomed last week’s agreement, saying it was in China’s interests to have a stable and peaceful region.

The Middle East accounts for 60 per cent of China’s oil imports and Hua said the strategic passage from the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca was “a matter of life and death” for the country.

The region is also central to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s massive trade initiative to link economies into a China-centred trading network.

But Hua said tensions between China and the US would undermine the plan, with the United States “pressuring Middle East allies to stay away from China”.

“Its allies globally are facing the difficulty of [having to] pick a side between Washington and Beijing. It could be a headache for the region which is in dire financial need,” he said.

The pressure was evident in May when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel and cautioned against stronger ties with China.

During the trip, Pompeo voiced opposition to Chinese involvement in construction of the world’s biggest desalination plant in Israel.

The Israeli government went on to choose local company IDE Technologies for the project over an affiliate of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings.

Hua said the US was also expected to put pressure on its regional allies to undermine Chinese efforts to take part in the rebuilding of Iraq and Syria.

“[But] China will ... continue to develop relationships with Middle East countries, including Iran,” Hua said.

Those ties with Iran were in focus on Thursday, when Pompeo threatened to sanction Russia and China if they rejected a US proposal to restore United Nations sanctions against Iran.

The sanctions had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear agreement, but Washington accused Tehran of non-compliance with the landmark deal which the US pulled out of two years ago.

“[But] China will ... continue to develop relationships with Middle East countries, including Iran,” Hua said.

Those ties with Iran were in focus on Thursday, when Pompeo threatened to sanction Russia and China if they rejected a US proposal to restore United Nations sanctions against Iran.

The sanctions had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear agreement, but Washington accused Tehran of non-compliance with the landmark deal which the US pulled out of two years ago.