Defense Minister’s Iran trip to help lift military ties to ‘ unprecedented’ level

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday and both sides agreed to further deepen cooperation in military and other areas, during a rare visit by the Chinese Defense Minister to Iran that experts say could help elevate China- Iran military ties to an unprecedented level against the backdrop of an increasingly hostile US and a tumultuous global situation.

Wei’s trip to Iran marks the highest- ranking Chinese official visit to the Middle East country since the implementation earlier this year of the 25- year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement between China and Iran, a sweeping deal to further improve bilateral political and economic ties between the two countries – both are facing intensifying hostility from the US.

During the meeting on Wednesday, Raisi called for expanding the areas of cooperation between the two countries and strengthening allround cooperation, including in the military field.

For his part, Wei said that the Chinese military is willing to maintain strategic communication with Iran, make good use of the cooperation mechanisms, and boost pragmatic collaboration, so as to lift bilateral military ties to a higher level, Wei said.

Commenting on the consensus reached on military cooperation, Hua Liming, former Chinese ambassador to Iran and an expert on Middle East affairs said that such detailed military communication and cooperation with Iran, a major power in the gulf region, is unprecedented.

Wei’s visit comes at a time when the US continues to instigate regional tensions such as the Ukraine crisis, but the outcome of the visit shows that US meddling has not affected China and Iran to further elevate their bilateral ties and cooperation in a wide range of areas, experts said.