Iran-China deal to ditch dollar, bypass US sanctions: Leader’s advisor

An advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says a pending roadmap for strategic partnership between Iran and China is to help ditch the dollar in bilateral trade and bypass illegal and unilateral US sanctions.

Ali Aqa-Mohammadi said the 25-year document is more than an “agreement” which usually encompass just a certain issue.

The official said the partnership roadmap solidifies the two countries’ economic and defensive cooperation by protecting their dealings from “third-party intervention.”

It would “close up and eliminate the key spots,” where sanctions, including those targeting defense cooperation between the two countries, could be implemented, he noted.

“The US doesn’t want the sanctions to be relieved,” Aqa-Mohammadi said. “This document upsets the sanctions and the Iran-China roadmap disarranges many of the US plans.”

Washington returned the sanctions in 2018 after leaving a landmark nuclear deal with Iran. The US intransigence flew in the face of the fact that the deal had been ratified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the form of its Resolution 2231.

Now, despite having left the nuclear deal, Washington has recently launched a campaign to renew a UN embargo on the sales of conventional weapons to the Islamic Republic that will expire under the deal in October.  

‘Unprecedented defeat’ for US

Aqa-Mohammadi, who is also a member of Iran's Expediency Council, went on to address the implications for the United States’ ambitions in the region, where Washington has been sowing insecurity through decades of military intervention, and trying to tilt the balance of power in favor of the occupying regime of Israel.

“Coordination of Iran and China can take the region out of the US' hands” by pushing Washington aside, breaking its sprawling regional network apart, and frustrating its attempts at isolating Tehran, he stated.

The roadmap, therefore, translates into “such defeat for the US, which will be unprecedented in the region,” he added.

Aqa-Mohammadi cited US reports that Washington has assigned more than 4,000 people to administer the sanctions against Iran, saying Washington which is trying hard to prevent Tehran from drawing benefits from its national interests and bring about a “regime change” in the Islamic Republic has reacted very strongly to the prospect of the roadmap’s conclusion.

Iran slams ‘flurry of disinformation’ about potential China deal

An Iranian diplomat says negative reports about a potential deal with China is pure disinformation.

On Sunday, The New York Times said it had obtained details of an 18-page proposed agreement that would vastly expand Chinese presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects. In exchange, China would receive a regular supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years, it said.

It confirmed that Iran and China were nearing conclusion of the roadmap in defiance of the US, saying the document foresees “a sweeping economic and security partnership.”

The roadmap invites “billions of dollars” of Chinese investments in the Islamic Republic, thus undermining the administration of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to isolate the country through its “maximum pressure” campaign. Especially, the cooperation would prove a “major blow” to the US administration’s “aggressive” policy towards Iran since its withdrawal from the nuclear deal, The Times added.

Addressing the economic side of the roadmap, Aqa-Mohammad said the document would not just cover oil and gas sales, stretching as far as enabling Iran and China to cooperate in “all economic areas.”

According The New York Times, the document also describes deepening military cooperation in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades. It calls for joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing.

The defensive collaboration is aimed at fighting “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug, and human trafficking and cross-border crimes,” it added.

"The draft agreement with Iran shows that unlike most countries, China feels it is in a position to defy the United States, powerful enough to withstand American penalties, as it has in the trade war waged by President Trump,” The Times said.

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