Iran and China signed a broad economic and security cooperation agreement, challenging US attempts to isolate Iran and advancing Tehran’s longstanding efforts to deepen diplomatic ties outside Western powers.
Chancellors Javad Zarif and Wang Yi signed on Saturday what both sides consider a “strategic partnership” that will last 25 years. The five-year agreement was signed in Tehran.
Details of the deal were not immediately published, but a draft of the deal circulated last year included Chinese investments in projects ranging from nuclear power, ports, railways and other infrastructure to the transfer of military technology and investments in the oil and gas industry in the country. Will .
In exchange for investments, China will receive stable supplies of Iranian oil, the semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Saturday, adding that the two countries also agreed to establish an Iranian-Chinese bank. Such a bank could help Tehran to escape US sanctions that effectively barred it from global banking systems.
“This cooperation is a basis for Iran and China to participate in major projects and infrastructure development,” including the Beijing Belt and Road initiative, said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the Friday before the signing, referring to the vast China’s global investment and development strategy.