China and Iran have signed a comprehensive agreement that aims to chart the course of their economic, political and commercial relations over the next 25 years, Iranian state TV reported, in a challenge to the Biden government.
The “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” agreement, signed in Tehran on Saturday by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, has been underway since 2016, when President Xi Jinping became the first Chinese leader to visit the Iranian capital in more than a decade.
“The document can raise bilateral ties to a new strategic level,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh in a television interview. The deal focuses on boosting private sector collaboration and the role of the Islamic Republic in Xi’s main investment and infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.
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A draft of the draft agreement that appeared in the media last year showed plans for the long-term supply of Iranian oil to China, as well as investments in oil, gas, petrochemical, renewables and nuclear power infrastructure.
The Beijing-Tehran alliance is a challenge for the government of US President Joe Biden as he tries to gather allies against China, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken said was the “biggest geopolitical test in the world”.
The pact with China comes at a time when efforts to revive Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers are stalled. The Biden government has indicated that it is open to re-engagement with Iran after then President Donald Trump abandoned the deal nearly three years ago and imposed economic sanctions, but the two sides have not yet agreed to meet.
Iran’s closer integration with China can help strengthen its economy against the impact of U.S. penalties, while sending a clear signal to the Biden government of Tehran’s intentions. Wang Yi, who arrived in Tehran on Friday, also met with President Hassan Rouhani to discuss the nuclear deal.
In a televised speech, Rouhani reiterated his view on the prospect of easing restrictions before the end of his second and final term as president in early August.
“We are ready to lift the sanctions,” he said on Saturday. “If the obstacles are removed, all or at least some sanctions can be lifted.”