China and Iran signed ,described as” a 25-year “strategic cooperation pact”, during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s on-going six-nation tour to West Asia. the deal, which has been in the works for five years, was signed between Mr. Wang yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. Mr. Wang Yi is visiting Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.
The agreement comes amid a major push from China to back Iran, which counts on Beijing as its largest trading partner, as it deals with the continuing weight of sanctions reinstated following then U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. China and Russia called for the U.S. to “unconditionally return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as soon as possible and revoke the unilateral sanctions against Iran” as their Foreign Ministers met in China. they proposed “the establishment of a regional security dialogue platform to converge a new consensus on resolving the security concerns of countries in the region.”
This document can be very effective in deepening” relations and would establish a blueprint for “reciprocal investments in the fields of transport, ports, energy, industry and services.”
In Riyadh, Mr. Wang Yi proposed “a five-point initiative on achieving security and stability in the Middle East”advocating mutual respect, upholding equity and justice, achieving non-proliferation, jointly fostering collective security, and accelerating development cooperation.”
Mr Wang Yi China was keen to deepen its Belt and Road Initiative in the region, “expand areas of growth such as high and new technologies”, as well as “look forward to early conclusion of a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council” with China’s trade with Arab States reaching $240 billion last year, establishing it as the region’s largest trading partner and a major buyer of crude oil that counts on the region for half of its imports.
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