The $400 billion agreement includes economic and cultural interaction between the two sides and also paves the way for Iran’s participation in the Belt and Road initiative.
Iran’s top diplomat has announced the implementation of the ambitious 25-year strategic agreement between the two countries has begun.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, on his first official visit to China, said on Friday the two sides agreed to announce the start of the implementation of the long-term pact.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing after his meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Amirabdollahian said the two countries have made “adequate arrangements” to set the agreement in motion, hailing it as “one of the important achievements” of the trip.
The foreign ministers agreed to step up cooperation in energy, infrastructure, production capacity, science and technology, and medical and health care, the sides said in statement according to China’s state-owned CGTN.
Bilateral cooperation will also be expanded to agriculture, fisheries, cybersecurity and the third party market, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges in education, film and personnel training, said the statement.
China also reaffirmed its opposition
to unilateral sanctions by the United States against Iran.
Wang, who is also State Councillor, said the US bore
primary responsibility for the ongoing difficulties with Iran,
having unilaterally withdrawn from a 2015 nuclear deal between
the major powers and Iran.
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Hornet’s nest
The $400 billion agreement between Tehran and Beijing was signed on March 27 last year by then Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Wang during latter’s visit to Tehran.
The agreement includes economic and cultural interaction between the two sides and also paves the way for Iran’s participation in the Belt and Road initiative, a massive infrastructure project stretching 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 Chinese foreign ministry said the agreement would deepen
Sino-Iranian cooperation in areas including energy,
infrastructure, agriculture, culture, as well as
cyber security and cooperation with other countries.
The accord had last year stirred up a hornet’s nest in Iran as many feared that it would open up Iran’s strategic ports to Chinese investments and military bases. However, officials have dismissed these reports.
The agreement was envisaged in 2016 when Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Iran soon after a nuclear deal was signed between Iran and the world powers.
However, after the US withdrawal from the deal in May 2018, followed by the reinstatement of sanctions, the Iran-China agreement was also put on the backburner.
READ MORE: What the new China-Iran agreement means for the Middle East
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Iran: Implementation of 25-year cooperation agreement with China begins
Source: Pinay Pop Showbiz
