Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Iran, China’s foreign ministry announced Thursday, after Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi concluded a three-day visit to Beijing.
Xi “has accepted the invitation” from his counterpart to visit Tehran, according to a joint statement from the ministry, which did not specify a date.
The last state visit by the Chinese president to Iran took place in January 2016.
The announcement came on the third and final day of Raisi’s trip to Beijing. It was the first state visit by an Iranian president to China in more than 20 years.
Political and economic partners, the two countries are under pressure from Western nations, particularly for their stances regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran also faces heavy US sanctions over its nuclear program.
In Thursday’s statement, the two countries called for the sanctions to be lifted, saying that “securing Iran’s economic dividends” is an “important part” of the nuclear deal signed in 2015.
Beijing and Tehran also called for “full and effective implementation” of the deal, blaming current tensions on the “unilateral withdrawal of the United States”.
Iran is one of the last major countries to provide support to Russia, which has been expelled from diplomatic isolation since the military intervention in Ukraine began in late February 2022.
Western countries accuse the Islamic Republic of supplying Moscow with armed military unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”), which are used against Ukraine.
Tehran has denied those allegations.
On Tuesday, Xi Jinping praised the “solidarity” in China-Iran relations, saying that “in the face of the complex situation caused by developments in the world, China and Iran support each other, show solidarity and cooperate.”
In 2021, Beijing signed a major 25-year strategic agreement with Tehran. This important partnership covers areas as diverse as energy, security, infrastructure and communications.
Source: DN
