Iran says negotiating 25-year accord with China 'with conviction and confidence'

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said on July 5 that the country has been negotiating a 25-year deal with China and the terms will only be made public once the accord is concluded. According to international media reports, while addressing the parliament in a heated session for the first time since the new house started in May-end, Zarif said “with confidence and conviction” Tehran is in talks with Beijing about a strategic accord of more than two decades with Islamic Republic’s top trading partner. 

Iranian Foreign Minister, who was reportedly heckled by the lawmakers over his essential role in the nuclear accord of 2015 with global powers, reiterated that there was “nothing secret” about the potential agreement with the Asian superpower. 

The United States had unilaterally withdrawn from the nuclear deal in 2018 and the relief that Tehran achieved from the international sanctions in return for limiting the nuclear programme was taken away. According to reports, the conservatives in Iran had opposed the multilateral agreement that was signed years ago citing mistrust in America. 

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Iran's supreme leader backs negotiations

Zarif has reportedly also said that the details of the accord, the intention of which has been in place since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tehran in 2016, will be made public when it is concluded. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly backed the negotiations with China that according to him showcases the strategic bilateral relationship between both countries. 

The planned China deal has reportedly been the centre of several discussions on Iran’s social media since country’s former President Mahmud  Ahmadinejad criticised the talks with the Asian superpower in June. But, China is one of the key markets of Iran's crude oil whose economy has been severely impacted with the US sanctions. According to local media reports, the deal is expected for Beijing to help Tehran economically as both nations share warm relations.

Iran-China potential deal comes as both these countries are at odds with the United States. While the US is reportedly pushing the United Nations to extend the arms embargo on Iran that expires in October, it has also indulged in a war of words with China publically.

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Inputs: Agency