Iran’s Foreign Ministry said its 25-year cooperation agreement with China is progressing, and framed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a platform for the Global South, in a direct challenge to the United States.
“The 25-year agreement with China is under implementation and progressing. Our bilateral relations are very good and expanding. We value our relationship with China,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told China’s Xinhua news agency on Saturday.
He said Tehran expects President Masoud Pezeshkian’s China trip and appearance at the SCO leaders’ meeting in Tianjin to be “a milestone in developing bilateral relations.”
“Our bilateral relations are very good and growing,” he said, adding that the SCO “can represent the interests and concerns of the Global South” and help safeguard an international order “based on multilateralism [and] the rule of law.”
Pezeshkian told the summit on Monday that members must expand trade in national currencies and strengthen financial mechanisms to withstand sanctions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin also pressed their vision at the regional summit on Monday for a new global security and economic order that prioritizes the Global South.
Pezeshkian said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as one of the key pillars of the multi-polarization of the international system, must take concrete, clear, and transparent steps along two parallel paths: creating a more peaceful world and a world better prepared for the expansion of economic cooperation."
Iran faces sanctions from the United States and several Western countries over its nuclear activities, human rights record, and ties to Russia’s war in Ukraine. These measures have contributed to Tehran’s economic isolation and increased its reliance on partners such as China, its largest oil customer.
On the nuclear dispute, Baghaei criticized Britain, France and Germany over their recent move to trigger the UN “snapback” mechanism, saying it violated their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal and UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
He said Iran would defend its interests and remains entitled to its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty rights.
In separate comments carried by Iranian media last week, Baghaei accused the three European powers of “bowing to Washington.”
Late last month, Britain, France and Germany triggered a 30-day process—the so-called “snapback” mechanism—to restore the international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in a formal letter sent to the UN Security Council.
Strains on the 25-year pact
The long-term agreement, signed in 2021, envisions Chinese investment in Iran’s energy and infrastructure sectors in exchange for long-term energy supply commitments.
But implementation has lagged under sanctions, with Chinese investments limited and the exact terms kept secret. Projects such as the South Pars gas field and the Gohardasht Steel complex have faced setbacks, with some Chinese firms retracting or terminating their participation.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged the full enforcement of the pact on Sunday, calling it a foundation for reshaping regional and global dynamics.
“Iran and China, as ancient civilizations on Asia’s eastern and western wings, not only possess profound historical foundations but also hold transformative power to reshape regional and even global landscapes. Fully implementing all aspects of the two countries’ strategic cooperation agreement will undoubtedly lay a solid foundation for this process,” his office said in a post on X.
Two rounds of talks between the IAEA and the foreign ministry had already taken place, with a third session planned, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told reporters.
“The matter of IAEA supervision over the refueling of Bushehr was on the agenda. Two inspectors came, observed the process and left,” he said.
Inspectors entered the country with authorization from the Supreme National Security Council to oversee a fuel replacement process at Bushehr, he added.
The visit marked the first IAEA presence since Tehran suspended cooperation during the 12-day war with Israel, when US and Israeli strikes targeted Iranian nuclear facilities.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that while inspectors were allowed back into Bushehr, access to other key sites remained blocked. He also warned that the agency was still dissatisfied with the level of Iranian cooperation.
Some Iranian officials and media outlets had also threatened that as soon as Grossi entered Iranian territory, he should be arrested and put on trial. The Kayhan newspaper, overseen by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had called for Grossi to be tried and executed “for spying for Mossad.”
Dispute over snapback sanctions
Eslami dismissed the activation of the UN snapback mechanism by Britain, France and Germany as unsurprising. “Our enemies always find excuses to pressure the Iranian nation,” he said, accusing the IAEA leadership of acting under the influence of Western powers.
The European states triggered the mechanism on August 28, seeking the reimposition of all previous UN sanctions and demanding that Iran resume full cooperation with the IAEA within 30 days. Tehran has so far refused.
Officials have threatened that if pressure intensifies, Iran could withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — a move that would deepen its isolation and risk losing support from Russia and China.
The IAEA has reported that Iran holds enriched uranium stocks far beyond the limits set in the 2015 nuclear deal, including more than 400 kilograms enriched to 60 percent.
The fate of this material remains unclear after the strikes on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan during the June conflict. Experts warn it could be enough, if further refined, to build several nuclear weapons.
Addressing the gathering on Monday, Pezeshkian outlined a three-part proposal called the “Special Accounts and Settlements of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”
The plan proposes to expand the use of national currencies in trade, develop shared digital systems including central bank digital currencies, and create a multilateral swap fund to support members facing sanctions or liquidity crises.
“This initiative will enhance economic resilience and turn the SCO into a model of a fair multipolar financial order,” he said.
He also urged the formation of a committee of foreign ministers to manage crises and respond quickly to violations of sovereignty.
This was not the first time Pezeshkian stressed de-dollarization. At a BRICS meeting in Russia in 2024, he said the bloc was recognized for “challenging the dominance of the dollar” and promoting national currencies.
At that time, an image of a banknote bearing the BRICS emblem in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the organization’s summit in Tatarstan drew media attention and sparked discussion about the possibility of its members adopting a common currency.
In December 2024, before officially taking office as US President Donald Trump warned BRICS members that if they used any currency other than the US dollar, they would face a 100% tariff.
Absent from leaders’ photo
A video released Sunday showed Pezeshkian missing from the customary group photo.
Iranian media said he arrived late, while his deputy for communications said the official summit was to begin the following day and the photo was taken during an informal banquet. Unofficial Iranian accounts said his absence was due to alcohol being served at the reception, an issue sensitive for Iranian officials.
Tehran is seen as banking on bilateral meetings during the summit, particularly with Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, as it seeks to manage fallout from its nuclear dispute with the West.
Founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) initially focused on regional security and counterterrorism.
Over time, China and Russia have framed it as a counterweight to US and NATO influence. The SCO now has 10 full members—including India, Pakistan, Iran (since 2023), and Belarus (since 2024)—and its agenda has expanded to economic, political, and military cooperation.
Malley served as US special envoy for Iran under President Joe Biden and was a key architect of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. He was placed on leave and had his security clearance suspended in 2023 over alleged mishandling of classified information.
His Yale course for Fall 2025, titled Adversaries by Design: Deconstructing the Iran-US Relationship, will examine ties between Washington and Tehran from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the present.
The syllabus, seen by Iran International, says students are expected to “internalize” both American and Iranian perspectives, and assignments include role-playing exercises simulating negotiations between the two governments.
However, the list of people whose works students are required to read mainly consists of former Islamic Republic officials or analysts aligned with their thinking.
The syllabus’s reading list includes “How Iran Sees the Path to Peace,” a December 2024 Foreign Affairs essay by former foreign minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif, who has been under US sanctions since 2019. The article, assigned for the Week 11, outlines his diplomatic perspective on Iran’s relations with the West.
While Yale’s website says the course will feature guest speakers, it does not identify them. However, an op-ed by a Yale student published Friday in the Jewish News Syndicate names Zarif as one of the invited speakers.
The syllabus also assigns a 2019 Foreign Affairs article by Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator and diplomat. The piece, “How Iran Sees its Standoff with the United States,” appears in the Week 8 readings on the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Mousavian recently ended his 15-year tenure at Princeton University, which the university described as a retirement. Activists, however, said it followed pressure over his alleged ties to state-linked assassinations and propaganda efforts especially when he served as Iran's ambassador to Berlin.
Other authors featured on the reading list include Narges Bajoghli, Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Ali Vaez, Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, and Trita Parsi who are mostly opposed to Iran sanctions and favor normalized relations.
Their works, assigned in weeks dedicated to sanctions and diplomacy, argue that US sanctions have been ineffective or harmful to ordinary Iranians and explore possible diplomatic paths forward.
One of the required reading texts is How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare by Bajoghli, Nasr, Salehi-Isfahani, and Vaez, alongside Batmanghelidj’s How Sanctions Hurt Iran’s Protesters and Parsi’s No, Sanctions Didn’t Force Iran to Make a Deal.
In 2023, Iran International and Semafor investigation uncovered the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI) - a network formed under Zarif to promote Iran's foreign policy and nuclear strategy through scholars based abroad. Ali Vaez was named as one of its key members.