China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group’s military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.Riyadh turned to China for help after the Houthis made rapid advances along the Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, moves that left Saudi oil exports and shipping more exposed, the sources said.China had publicly called for restraint, dialogue and the restoration of safe navigation, but its private message went further than the public statements, they said.Beijing wants Iran to use its influence with the Houthis to help prevent the conflict from spreading further across energy routes on which China, the world’s second-largest economy, depends.The sources, who were briefed on the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide details of how the message was delivered or whether it was conveyed during a visit to China on Wednesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.The sources said Tehran’s response was that stability and peace in the region depended on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.Chinese officials did not issue any explicit threats or indicate that Beijing would seek to pressure Tehran economically if it failed to use its influence over the Houthis, the three Iranian sources said.