China’s foreign minister in Iran for talks on strategic ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Tehran on an official two-day visit to hold talks with senior officials on the strategic relations and key regional and international developments.

Wang, who is on a six-country tour of West Asia, arrived at the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif after wrapping up his visits to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and make a working visit to Oman.

The top Chinese diplomat plans to sit down for official talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The Iranian and Chinese foreign ministers are to open an exhibition of historical documents of cooperation between the two countries on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Beijing.

US should immediately take practical actions vis-à-vis JCPOA: Chinese vice foreign minister

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said the United States should immediately take practical steps and restart talks given “new developments” in the Iranian nuclear situation.

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday, the diplomat’s plea to the US special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, came ahead of the foreign minister’s trip to Tehran.

“There are some new changes in the current Iranian nuclear situation. All parties should increase their sense of urgency,” Ma said.

“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,” he added.

He emphasized that Beijing would “continue to play a constructive role in pushing the comprehensive agreement back on track.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that China would work to safeguard the 2015 nuclear deal that the US abandoned in 2018.

Speaking at a news briefing on Thursday, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng also said China will defend the legitimate interests of Sino-Iranian relations, noting that Beijing has not received notices of sanctions on Iranian oil from the White House.

Iran and six world powers – China, Russia, the US, France, Britain and Germany – reached the nuclear agreement in July 2015. But the US, under former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and subsequently pursued a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

Backed by the three European parties to the deal, the administration of President Joe Biden has called on Iran to reverse all the “remedial measures” it took as a response to the US withdrawal so as to revive the JCPOA.

Tehran has rejected the viewpoint. Iran says it will not reverse its measures before a US return to its JCPOA commitments, including the lifting of the illegal sanctions Washington has imposed on Tehran.

China and Russia have been vocal supporters of Iran’s position since Biden took office. Both world powers maintain friendly ties with Iran.

Iran and China are also working to finalize the 25-year Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was announced in a joint statement during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran in 2016.

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