According to Chinese state media, China's President Xi Jinping expressed his support for the Islamic Republic in protecting its rights and interests on Tuesday and called for a prompt and proper resolution to the nuclear issue with Iran.
Xi told Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing that China will continue to "participate constructively" in talks to resume negotiations on implementing the Iran nuclear agreement.
In exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, a 2015 nuclear agreement restricted Iran's uranium enrichment program to make it more difficult for Tehran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran claims that it was expanding its nuclear energy program for peaceful purposes.
However, Donald Trump, the then-President of the United States, ended the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, claiming that it had not done enough to stop Tehran's nuclear activities.
Washington's withdrawal from the agreement has been criticized by China, which maintains that the United States should initiate the pact's revival first.
Companies involved in Iran's oil exports, including five based in China, were subjected to additional sanctions by the United States in September. As long as Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program, Washington stated that it would continue to impose sanctions on its oil and petrochemical sales.
Raisi published an editorial in China's state-controlled People's Daily prior to his three-day visit, which began on Tuesday. In it, he stated that China and China believe unilateralism and "violent" measures like the imposition of "unjust" sanctions are the primary causes of global crises and insecurity.
In the editorial, Raisi said that China was an "old friend" and that regional and international circumstances wouldn't affect Iran's efforts to improve relations.
"China will unwaveringly develop friendly cooperation with Iran and promote the continuous development of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership," Xi stated. "No matter how the international and regional situation changes."
China stated that it is willing to expand its trade, agricultural, industrial, and infrastructure cooperation with Iran and import more Iranian agricultural products of higher quality.
When they last met in person in September, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Xi and Raisi pledged to build a stronger alliance.
China will invest billions of dollars in Iran's petroleum sector in exchange for Iran's supply of oil and petrochemical products, and Iran and China began the implementation phase of their 25-year cooperation agreement last year. Iran already has China as its largest trading partner.
Xi made the initial proposal for the agreement during his visit to Iran in 2016.
0 Comments