Trump's re-election will not affect Iran-China strategic ties: Leader’s aide

A senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the election of Donald Trump as US president for a second term will have no impact on Iran’s foreign policy, particularly its ties with China. 

Ali Akbar Velayati, who advises the Leader on international affairs, made the remarks during a meeting with China's Ambassador to Tehran Cong Peiwu on Sunday.

During the meeting, the two officials discussed the latest regional and international developments. 

Velayati stressed the importance of promoting “strategic” relations between Tehran and Beijing, saying, “Iran and China have long, close and sincere cultural and historical relations and have had many positive effects on each other.”

He added that the two countries are determined to further boost cooperation.

“Undoubtedly, the development of relations between Iran, China, and Russia in various fields, including in the Shanghai and BRICS formats, will have lasting and important effects,” the top Iranian official emphasized.

During its 23rd virtual summit in July 2023, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) officially approved Iran's full-fledged membership in the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population.

Iran officially became a member of the BRICS at the beginning of 2024, five months after it announced its acceptance as a full member of the group along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

BRICS was formed by and initially consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which collectively represent around 40% of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

China says Iran ties won’t be influenced by other countries

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlights his country’s close relations with Iran, saying the cooperation will not be influenced by other countries.

Iran, China should allow nothing to affect mutual ties

The Chinese ambassador, for his part, said his country attaches great significance to the expansion of relations with Iran and called for strengthening bilateral cooperation.

He added that Iran and China should not allow anything to affect their relations, which are based on mutual respect.

Iran and China signed a landmark 25-year partnership agreement in March 2021 in an attempt to strengthen their long-standing economic and political alliance.

The deal was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Tehran back in 2016. It sets the outlines of China-Iran cooperation in political, cultural, security, defense, regional, and international domains for the next 25 years.

China is Iran's first economic partner, with a distant 30% share of the country’s foreign trade compared to other countries.

China is the most important source for Iran’s technological and industrial needs, the most important buyer of Iranian oil and the only country that has chosen the policy of keeping its economy open to Iran at a time of mounting sanctions pressure.

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