China's Xi Calls For Quick Resolution Of Iran Nuclear Dispute
China's President Xi Jinping has called for resolution of the Iran nuclear issue while expressing his support for Tehran in safeguarding its rights and interests.
China's President Xi Jinping has called for resolution of the Iran nuclear issue while expressing his support for Tehran in safeguarding its rights and interests.
China will continue to "participate constructively" in talks to resume negotiations on implementing the Iran nuclear agreement soon, Xi told Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi in talks in Beijing, according to Chinese state media.
The 2015 nuclear agreement (JCPOA) limited Iran's uranium enrichment program to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms, in return for lifting international sanctions.
But in 2018 then-US President Donald Trump ditched the deal, saying it had not done enough to curb Tehran's nuclear activities, and reimposed sanctions. China has been violating those sanctions, especially since President Joe Biden got elected, buying the bulk of Iran’s illicit oil exports.
China has criticized Washington for withdrawing from the deal and insists that the United States should make the first move in reviving the pact.
The Biden Administration came to office pledging to return to the accord and began indirect talks with Iran through the other JCPOA participants, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China in Vienna. Negotiations lasting 18 months failed to reach an agreement last year.
Following the start of antigovernment protests in Iran and a deadly crackdown by the government, the US announced that it is not focused on the nuclear talks any longer and instead wants to support the rights of Iranian protesters.
In September, the United States imposed new sanctions on companies involved in Iran oil exports, including five based in China. Washington said it would continue enforcing sanctions on Iran's oil and petrochemical sales so long as Tehran continues to accelerate its nuclear program.
Ahead of his three-day visit that started on Tuesday, Raisi wrote an editorial in China's state-controlled People's Daily in which he said both countries believe that unilateralism and "violent" measures such as the imposition of "unjust" sanctions are the main causes of crises and insecurity in the world. This was a clear broadside aimed at the United States.
In the editorial, Raisi described China as an "old friend", and said Iran's efforts to strengthen relations would be unaffected by regional and international situations.
The Iranian regime is hard pressed by a serious economic crisis triggered to a large extent by more than four years of US economic sanctions. It is also more isolated than ever, by the West that strongly objects to its bloody crackdown on protests and supply of drones to Russia.
"No matter how the international and regional situation changes, China will unwaveringly develop friendly cooperation with Iran and promote the continuous development of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership," Xi said.
China said it is willing to deepen cooperation with Iran in trade, agriculture, industry and infrastructure as well as to import more high-quality Iranian agricultural products.
Xi and Raisi pledged to forge a stronger alliance when they last met in person on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand in September.
Iran and China signed a 25-year cooperation accord in 2021, under which China is to invest billions of dollars in Iran's petroleum sector in exchange for the supply of oil and petrochemical products. However, the document signed is a general wish-list and so far there are few practical plans to expand cooperation. Iranian media has said that Raisi’s China visit pursued the goal of implementing the agreement.
China is already Iran's biggest trading partner.
However, many Iranians look at ties with China suspiciously, and those opposed to the regime see Beijing as a supporter of Iran’s authoritarian rulers.
With reporting by Reuters
During his weekly press conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani referred to a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and United States Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, and said Tehran uses all diplomatic capacities to realize the Islamic Republic’s national interests.
“Some governments have already played a role in this regard in good faith. Some governments are interested in using the capacity of their relations with both sides, and we will always welcome these joint efforts in good faith,” he added. “If the Iraqi government wants to play a role in this area, we take it seriously as the country is our friend, neighbor and brother, and we will use the capacities of the Iraqi government.”
Tehran, facing serious economic and political challenges insists that there is still a chance to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the JCPOA, while the US, which withdrew from the original deal under former US president Donald Trump, has repeatedly announced that it is no longer focused on the deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held a phone call with his Iraqi counterpart on Friday, a day before the Iraqi foreign minister met with Malley. According to the official readout of the meeting by the Iraqi foreign ministry, Hussein and Malley discussed the Iran nuclear talks and the European's attitude toward suspending them. Malley praised Iraq's diplomatic role and the initiatives it launched to ease the tension in the region, the statement added.
Since the current wave of antigovernment protests engulfed Iran in September, the Biden administration has announced that talks to revive the nuclear deal are not their priority anymore. Considering the international outcry over the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on dissent and human rights violations as well as the growing military ties between Tehran and Moscow, including from the US Congress, the prospects of saving the JCPOA is dimmer than ever.
Moreover, Kanaani expressed Iran’s readiness to exchange prisoners with the US in an “unconditional” manner without linking the swap to other issues, complaining that despite Iran’s goodwill, Washington has not taken an encouraging measure in this regard.
On Saturday, Hussein -- accompanied by Central Bank of Iraq Governor Ali al-Allaq -- met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, and many other US officials and business leaders to discuss a host of economic issues. But an urgent issue was how to prevent Iran from using Iraq’s banking ties with the United States to launder US dollars and circumvent Washington’s sanctions.
In an interview with Al-Monitor in Washington on Sunday, Hussein said that "It’s no secret that I am in touch with both Iranian and American officials,” adding that “Both sides trust us, and that’s a good thing... It’s in Iraq’s interest that there be less tension between Washington and Tehran."
“I will continue these contacts,” said Hussein. “The US is an important ally, and Iran is an important neighbor, with whom we share many common interests, including a border, religion, culture, economics and trade. I hope both sides will start talking to each other again, but that’s their decision,” he added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Kanaani touched on the issue of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, stressing the need for diplomacy to return the ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran back on track. Tehran welcomes any mediation by the Iraqi government and hopes that the efforts would improve relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said.
During a media briefing earlier on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani highlighted the importance of Ebrahim Raisi’s trip on the development of Tehran-Beijing bilateral ties, saying, “The visit will be made upon an official invitation by the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The visit is particularly important from a political perspective. It indicates the existence of a proper political atmosphere in relations and emphasizes the highest political will from the leaders of the two countries to expand bilateral ties based on mutual interests,” he noted.
China’s Xi visited Saudi Arabia in December and also met members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, followed by a joint statement in which the issue of three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf was mentioned as a claim pursued by the United Arab Emirates.
The Iranian public showed a strong reaction once the joint statement was reported by Persian media, accusing the Islamic Republic authorities of being so weak that its ally China was subtly endorsing the UAE claim.
Kanaani described the deal signed between Iran and China in March 2021 as “a roadmap that outlines the general path and long-term horizon of cooperation between the two countries.” He added that there was a 43-percent growth in Iran-China economic and commercial relations last year, with China being Iran’s first export destination and the second source of imports.
However, there have been other reports in Iranian media saying that trade has declined since mid-2022.
During the meeting with Khamenei, Raisi gave a report on the agenda of the trip and the planned meetings. The readout of the meeting was not released to the media.
There are reports that Raisi will follow up on the so-called the 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, which so far has been nothing more than a wish list without a practical implementation plan.
The Islamic Republic is not only facing a strong challenge by dissidents and opponents at home, but also grapples with a serious economic crisis.
In January, a former Iranian ambassador to China said Tehran-Beijing ties are overestimated and only worked as a bargaining chip for China to secure deals with Saudi Arabia. Mohammad-Hossein Malaek, who served as Tehran’s envoy for four years under former president Mohammad Khatami, added that the agreement is a document without any value, especially following the visit by Xi to Saudi Arabia in December, when the two sides agreed “on the need to strengthen cooperation to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” calling on Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to “maintain the non-proliferation regime.”
Raisi himself also penned an op-ed article published in the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), emphasizing that “As two living and dynamic human civilizations, Iran and China were connected to each other via the historic Silk Road, and ascertained the fact that prosperity and happiness as desirable popular goals can only be achieved through interaction and cooperation.”
About the 25-year agreement, he claimed that the deal was signed to develop mutual cooperation in various fields because both Tehran and Beijing pursue similar approaches vis-à-vis international developments and are opposed to imperialism as well as unilateralism – a clear reference to the United States.
Wang Wenbin, the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Monday that "This is President Raisi's first visit to China in office. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will hold talks with President Raisi to jointly chart the course for and steer the future development of China-Iran relations, and have in-depth exchange of views on regional and international issues of common concern."
He also echoed sentiments similar to those of Raisi about traditional friendship, saying that “To consolidate and develop China-Iran relations are their joint strategic choice.”
“In recent years, under the guidance of President Xi and President Raisi, the China-Iran relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, with political mutual trust consolidated continuously and practical cooperation in various fields making steady progress,” he added.
The Chinese spokesman also talked about the so-called strategic agreement, noting that “Taking this visit as an opportunity, China looks forward to working with Iran to further advance China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership and playing a constructive role in enhancing unity and cooperation among countries in the Middle East and promoting regional security and stability.”
Iranian state media reported that during Raisi’s three-day visit, mechanisms to make the deal operational will be finalized. In a televised interview Sunday night, the political affairs deputy head of President's Office, Mohammad Jamshidi, said, "We are after establishing broad-scale economic cooperation with China, whose framework is the comprehensive Iran-China cooperation document." “We have advanced the mechanisms for implementing the comprehensive agreement between Iran and China, which was a deal on paper at the beginning of this administration. The agreement’s finalization will be followed up during this trip.”
Many Iranians have expressed resentment over the 25-year cooperation agreement with China and a proposed 20-year deal with Russia, saying it is a sell-out. Although Iran has not revealed the details of the agreement with China and what it will entail in political, economic and military terms, some social media users go as far as claiming that the Islamic Republic is "selling out the country and its people" to China and Russia.
Iran has once and again indicated its intention to rely more on Asian countries, particularly China for trade relations as talks with the United States and Europe to resolve differences over Tehran’s nuclear program have not succeeded so far and US sanctions remain in place. However, Beijing has so far has not seriously challenged US sanctions, as it has cultivated closer ties with the Persian Gulf Arab countries and Israel.