China Slams US Sanctions on Iran as Cooperation Agreement Launched

China reaffirmed its opposition to unilateral sanctions by the United States against Iran as the Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers announced the launch of a 25-year cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening economic and political ties. In a meeting on Friday in the city of Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also backed efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran.

A summary of the meeting between Wang and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was posted on China's foreign ministry website on Saturday.

A 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement signed between Iran and China last year has now entered the implementation stage, according to Iran’s foreign minister. Hossein Amirabdollahian, in his first visit to China as foreign minister, announced the news late Friday after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.  “While preparing for the visit to China, we had made preparations to be able to mark today as the starting day of implementing the comprehensive agreement between the two countries,” Amirabdollahian said, but he did not announce any specific projects or agreements to mark the occasion. During his visit, Amirabdollahian also delivered a letter by President Ebrahim Raisi for President Xi Jinping, which he said contained an “important message” for Raisi’s administration. He did not elaborate on the contents, but the Raisi administration has repeatedly emphasized an “Asia-centric” foreign policy that includes China as an important factor.

Wang, who is also State Councillor, said the U.S. bore primary responsibility for the ongoing difficulties with Iran, having unilaterally withdrawn from a 2015 nuclear deal between the major powers and Iran. Under the terms of that deal, in return for the lifting of international sanctions, Iran would limit uranium enrichment activity, making it harder to develop nuclear arms - although Tehran denies having plans for nuclear weapons. Wang said China would firmly support a resumption on negotiations on a nuclear pact. But he said China firmly opposes unilateral sanctions against Iran, political manipulation through topics including human rights, and interference in the internal affairs of Iran and other regional countries.

The United States re-imposed sanctions that badly damaged Iran's economy after withdrawing from the nuclear pact in 2018, saying the terms did not do enough to curb Iran's nuclear activities, ballistic missile program and regional influence.

A year later, Iran began to gradually breach the accord, rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
China and Iran, both subject to U.S. sanctions, signed the 25-year cooperation agreement last March, bringing Iran into China' Belt and Road Initiative, a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure scheme intended to stretch from East Asia to Europe. The project aims to significantly expand China's economic and political influence, and has raised concerns in the United States and elsewhere.
The foreign ministry summary said the agreement would deepen Sino-Iranian cooperation in areas including energy, infrastructure, agriculture, health care and culture, as well as cyber security and cooperation with other countries.

Iran and the U.S. remain locked in talks over whether a compromise can be found to renew the deal and dispel fears of a wider Middle East War. A source close to negotiations said on Friday that many issues remain unresolved. Wang, who earlier in the week met with several counterparts from Persian Gulf countries concerned about the potential threat from Iran, also said China hopes to set up a dialogue mechanism with Persian Gulf countries to discuss regional security issues.

Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has said the 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement between Iran and China is going to be realized through a series of executive deals which the two countries are going to start signing in the coming months. Khandouzi said: “In the coming months, we will start signing contracts not at the general level but in different specific sectors.” On March 26, 2021, Iran and China signed a comprehensive agreement expressing a desire to increase cooperation and trade relations over the next 25 years. - Reuters, Tehran Times, Aljazeera