China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif exchange agreements for strategic cooperation, Tehran, Iran, March 27, 2021
UPDATE, MARCH 28:
The Chinese and Iranian Foreign Ministers have signed the 25-year “road map” for strategic cooperation.
China’s Wang Yi, on a two-day visit to Tehran, and Mohammad Javad Zarif signed the document in a ceremony on Saturday.
No details have been released, but reports say it may include Chinese investments in Iran’s energy and infrastructure sectors.
A draft obtained by The New York Times last year said Beijing is committing to $400 billion investment over the 25 years in fields such as banking, telecommunications, ports, railways, health care, and information technology, over the next 25 years. China will receive a regular, heavily-discounted supply of Iranian oil.
There were also provisions for military cooperation, including joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development, and intelligence sharing.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said the arrangement includes “political, strategic, and economic” components.
#Iran FM @JZarif and #China FM Wang Yi signed the 25-year partnership document today in Tehran. Per officials of both countries, the document is a roadmap that pushes Iran-China relations to a comprehensive and strategic level. pic.twitter.com/kAYhhDoiJF
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) March 27, 2021
China is already Iran’s top trading partner, including for Tehran’s oil exports. Iranian officials said the agreement was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping on his January 2016 trip to Iran.
Hesamoddin Ashena, an advisor to President Rouhani, tweeted praise of “an example of a successful diplomacy” and Iran’s power “to participate in coalitions, not to remain in isolation”.
But critics of the Rouhani Government say the deal concedes too much to China. However, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf gave public support on Sunday for the “major element for production of power” in a “Look to the East and Eurasia approach through a balanced and economy-oriented foreign policy”.
ORIGINAL ENTRY, MARCH 27: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Iran on Friday for talks on “strategic relations”.
Wang’s two-day visit in Tehran is part of a six-country tour of West Asia. It will include discussions with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on “key regional and international developments”.
Wang and Zarif will sign a 25-year “road map of cooperation”. They will also open an exhibition of historical documents, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Beijing.
On the eve of the visit, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu spoke about the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 Powers, and US re-entry after the Trump Administration’s withdrawal in May 2018:
There are some new changes in the current Iranian nuclear situation. All parties should increase their sense of urgency.
The United States should take practical actions as soon as possible. The US and Iran should meet each other halfway and re-enter the deal.
The Biden Administration has accepted an invitation from the European Union for informal discussions, but the Supreme Leader and Rouhani Government have said the US must remove sanctions before any talks.
“1,500 figure quoted by Reuters and other outlets ”
Just for the record,: an Iranian Interior Ministry official told journalist, Shahed Alavi, that 200 had been killed and 3,000 injured: https://twitter.com/ShahedAlavi/status/1196482986742599680
Mostafa Kavekebian claimed he was informed by the authorities that it was 170 killed: https://aftabnews.ir/fa/news/629627
Kharrazi: VP Jahangiri offered to resign after the gasoline hike price and subsequent protests in 2019: https://aftabnews.ir/fa/news/701778
President Rouhani has been criticised for mishandling the issue which resulted in 230 deaths over the course of 4-5 days.
NOTE: Iranian officials told media outlets that the death toll — protesters, security personnel, and bystanders — was 1,500.
Note that Iranian officials have strenuously denied that any interview took place, as well as the figure claimed in the fake Reuters report: https://iranintl.com/en/iran-in-brief/iran-calls-reuters%E2%80%99-report-1500-deaths-iran-protests-%E2%80%9Cfake-news%E2%80%9D?page=98
Iran’s regime furious over int’l recognition of MEK’s 1,500 protests death report: https://english.mojahedin.org/i/iranian-opposition-pmoi-november-uprising-crackdown-20191226
According to a prominent Iranian politician:
“Ever since the recent unrest began, the MEK … immediately began announcing the number of people killed. Under the pretext of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), they issued their statement number 43 on December 3 indicating they have accounted for up to 750 people being killed. Just one day later their statement number 44 was published and the numbers reached 1,000 deaths. One week later, on December 11, Brian Hook, the U.S. State Department’s Special Representative on Iran, confirmed the PMOI’s claims and said more than 1,000 people have been killed by the regime’s forces in Iran! In his remarks, he even repeated the [MEK’s] ridiculous remarks about security forces demanding families to pay for the bullets used by security forces to kill their loved ones…Finally, on December 15… the NCRI issued its statement number 55 and announced over 1,500 people have been killed. It is astonishing that these are the same remarks republished in a recent Reuters report that is filled with lies.”
The MEK is known for its lying and exaggerating. They claim 30,000 of their members were killed or executed by Iranian troops and authorities in 1988 when the figure is around 5,000.
Rastgoo,
Well, since officials in the Iranian system are not MEK members — and since they were the source of the 1,500 figure quoted by Reuters and other outlets — this comment is not relevant to the matter at hand.
S.
25 year agreement signed: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-china/iran-china-sign-25-year-cooperation-agreement-idUSKBN2BJ0AD?il=0
Iran looks to sign similar agreements with other nations to bypass U.S sanctions.
This is also an example of where the Iranian foreign ministry under Zarif has been instrumental in shaping foreign policy.