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Updated February 17th, 2023 at 14:43 IST

Chinese president announces Iran visit as Iranian counterpart concludes trip to Beijing

The two counterparts pledged to bolster strategic, political, and economic ties, as well as enhance security and agricultural co-operation.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Xi Jinping
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday announced a state visit to Iran after his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi concluded his official trip to Beijing. Xi “gladly accepted the invitation” from the Iranian president, a statement published by Chinese state CCTV on its website read. No official date was announced. This would be Xi's first official visit to the Middle Eastern region if made. The president ended his three-day state visit to China, the first since 2018. The two ally leaders met during the crucial time of the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.

During their meeting, the two counterparts pledged to bolster strategic, political, and economic ties, as well as enhance security and agricultural co-operation. China and Iran, on Thursday, reaffirmed “strong mutual support” on areas of core and mutual interest, the statement further noted. 

China opposes 'unilateralism and bullying': Xi Jinping

In the face of dismantled relations with the United States, and geopolitical tensions over the spy balloon incident, Chinese President Jinping pledged solidarity with the Iranian counterpart. “China supports Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty” and “resisting unilateralism and bullying,” Xi stressed in the Chinese state television statement. He furthermore pushed for a speedy resolution for the torpedoed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The P5+1 negotiations in Vienna brokered by European Union had stalled over indifference, 'too many demands, no compromises'. Xi told Raisi that Beijing will continue to “participate constructively” in salvaging the talks, and reminded that China had strongly opposed the unilateral withdrawal of the deal by the then-Trump administration over Iran's Uranium enrichment and nuclear ambitions. Raisi's government had been pushing for negotiating a deal in exchange for the crippling sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic regime by Washington. 

"Both sides emphasised that lifting sanctions and ensuring Iran's economic dividends are an important component of the agreement," Xi Jinping and Raisi said in a joint communique published Feb. 16.  "All relevant sanctions should be fully abolished in a verifiable manner, promoting the agreement's full and effective implementation," the two counterparts added. 

China's Xi also expressed "solidarity and co-operation" with Iran "in the face of the current complex changes in the world, times, and history", as the Islamic Republic was marred by the anti-regime demonstrations, countrywide unrest that turned violent following the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini. China "supports Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and national dignity and in resisting unilateralism and hegemonism", Xi told Raisi, according to the state broadcaster. Xi also condemned what he described as the "external forces" interference in Iran's "internal affairs and undermining Iran's security and stability".

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Published February 17th, 2023 at 14:43 IST

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