Strategic goals of Chinese defense minister's visit to Tehran

Western media are making every attempt to use the Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe’s visit to Tehran to hold talks with senior Iranian officials on regional and international developments as well as issues of mutual interests as a ploy to indoctrinate a false notion that the 25-year partnership agreement signed between Iran and China has a military nature.

Iran's Nour News, affiliated with the country's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), made the comment in a report published on its official website on Thursday while elaborating on the goals of Wei’s strategic visit to Tehran to promote relations between the two countries.

Heading a high-ranking defense and military delegation, Wei arrived in the Iranian capital on Wednesday to hold talks with the country’s senior officials, including Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.

“Underscoring the direct connection of this trip to the implementation of the 25-year joint cooperation agreement between Iran and China and trying to induce the false statement that this roadmap has a military nature is one of the psychological tricks that has become the main focus of Western media propaganda in this regard,” Nour News said.

“The roadmap for 25 years of cooperation between Iran and China has a completely economic and trade content, and accordingly, various agreements between the two countries should be prepared and signed and implemented after legal processes,” it added.

Nour News stressed that prolonging the unrealistic atmosphere of the Western media can not affect the will of the two countries to realize their vast potential of cooperation in the political, economic, commercial and defense dimensions.

Iran and China signed a landmark agreement in March last year in defiance of the US’s unilateral sanctions to strengthen long-standing economic and political alliance.

The deal officially documents the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that had been announced during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to boost economic cooperation between the two countries for the next 25 years, and paves the way for Iran’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure project stretching from East Asia to Europe.

Beijing has long sought to boost ties with Tehran, with President Xi describing Iran as "China's major partner in the Middle East" on a rare visit to the country in 2016.

Iran FM: Partnership deal with China ‘win-win’ for both nations

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement signed with China will be a “win-win” as it serves the interests of both sides.

Elsewhere in the report, Nour News said the set of developments since the US expulsion from the region attests to the fact that Washington, with the complicity of London, seeks to establish new military relations in the region with the aim of restraining independent states and giving a new role to the Zionist regime in carrying out proxy missions.

Nour News underlined that Iran and China, as two regional powers, have significant indigenous defensive capabilities, and increasing their development can be an important component in pursuing the two countries' defense goals.

“Given Iran's consistent strategy of pursuing active security and defense diplomacy with its neighbors and regional powers, increasing defense interactions with China can be a precautionary measure against foreign intervention in the region while enhancing the two countries' common understanding of regional developments and increasing synergy,” Nour News noted.

Iran, Russia, and China in January held joint military drills in the north of the Indian Ocean, with vessels from the three countries hitting pre-determined targets at sea.

Iran, Russia, China kick off joint military drills in Indian Ocean amid growing ties

Iran, Russia, and China kick off joint military drills in the north of the Indian Ocean.

The “2022 Marine Security Belt” exercise, the third of such joint exercises between the three countries, covered an area of 17,000 square kilometers and included both navies from Iran’s Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), as well as the Russian and Chinese naval forces.

A variety of tactical exercises such as rescuing burning vessels, releasing hijacked vessels, shooting at specific targets, shooting at air targets at night, and other tactical and operational exercises were carried out during the drills.

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