Xi hails Iran ‘solidarity’ during ‘complex’ world situation
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Beijing’s “solidarity” with Iran on Tuesday, state media reported, as he hosted the Islamic Republic’s President Ebrahim Raisi at the start of a three-day visit.
“In the face of the current complex changes in the world, times, and history, China and Iran have supported each other (and) worked together in solidarity and cooperation,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
In the first state visit by an Iranian president to China in more than 20 years, Raisi has brought a large trade and finance delegation to Beijing and was greeted by Xi on a red carpet earlier Tuesday.
Beijing and Tehran have strong economic ties and in 2021 signed a 25-year “strategic cooperation pact”.
Both countries face pressure from Western nations over their positions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Iran is already under strict US sanctions due to its nuclear programme.
China “supports Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national dignity... and in resisting unilateralism and hegemonism,” CCTV reported Xi as saying.
Beijing also “opposes external forces interfering in Iran’s internal affairs and undermining Iran’s security and stability”, and will continue to “promote the early and proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue”, the Chinese leader said.
“No matter how the international and regional situation changes, China will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran”, Xi added.
The two sides signed “a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of agriculture, trade, tourism, environmental protection, health, disaster relief, culture, and sports”, according to CCTV.