China, Iran to Sign 25-Year Cooperation Deal

  Speaking to IRIB on Friday night, Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting the Iranian capital on the 50th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations to have meetings with a number of senior officials and sign the document. He also mentioned that the cooperation document was discussed in 2015 during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Iran in order to take bilateral relations to a new level of comprehensiveness and strategic importance. “The relationship between Iran and China is multi-layered, deep, and multi-dimensional, and this necessitates them to be included in a document. As a result, the agreement has been exchanged between the two countries many times, and it will eventually be signed by Foreign Ministers on Saturday,” Khatibzadeh said. He stressed that the agreement would function as a “road map” in deepening the bilateral relations. According to the diplomat, the document has a comprehensive road map, with the economic dimension serving as the document’s main axis. This includes cooperation in various fields, as well as Iran’s involvement in the One Road, One Belt initiative and a special focus on the private sector in both countries. “No comprehensive strategic participation is established unless the exact cultural, popular and media basis is formed. This has been addressed in the cultural part of the document,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said, adding, “We expect the document to serve as a road map for Iran-China relations in the next 25 years.” The Chinese top diplomat is scheduled to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during his stay in Tehran.