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News ID: 83458
Publish Date : 02 October 2020 - 21:55
President Rouhani’s Message to President Xi:

Strategic Pact to Open New Chapter in China Ties

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran has congratulated China on its National Day, hailing strategic ties between the two countries and saying a partnership agreement that Tehran and Beijing are working to finalize will open a new chapter in bilateral relations.
In a message to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani congratulated the Chinese people and government on the occasion of their National Day.
Tehran and Beijing have been standing side by side in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, Rouhani said, expressing Iran’s readiness to cooperate with China in producing COVID-19 vaccine.
"I am sure that the conclusion and signing of the 25-year comprehensive strategic cooperation plan between the two countries will be a large step towards advancing common interests in line with international peace and security and confronting unilateralism,” Rouhani said.
Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri also sent separate congratulatory messages to Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Vice President Wang Qishan.
He offered congratulations to the Chinese officials on the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), wishing success for the nation.
"Cultural commonalities and long-term historical ties, along with the common stance shared by both countries on many international issues and developments, and our determination to fight unilateralism, have provided a solid foundation for comprehensive strategic partnership between Iran and China,” he said.
Mutual cooperation in various areas


 has also set the stage for developing the partnership and reaping its benefits, he added.
Jahnagiri further stressed that cooperation between Iran and China in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) had great results.
He also expressed confidence that joint efforts as well as "the finalization and signing of a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership plan will mark a new chapter in Iran-China cooperation.”
The Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was announced in a joint statement during a visit by President Xi to Tehran in 2016.
The cooperation roadmap consists of 20 articles, covering Tehran-Beijing ties in "Political,” "Executive Cooperation,” "Human and Cultural,” "Judiciary, Security and Defense,” and "Regional and International” domains, according to the statement released back then.
Cooperation between China and Middle Eastern countries is neither new nor recent. Yet what distinguishes this development from others is that both China and Iran have confrontational relationships with the United States, and there is a security component to the agreement, leading U.S. magazine Foreign Policy wrote in August.
In the long term, Foreign Policy said, Iran’s strategic proximity to China implies that Tehran is adapting the so-called "Look East” policy in order to boost its regional and military power and to defy and undermine U.S. power in the Persian Gulf region.
"For China, the pact can help guarantee its energy security. The Persian Gulf supplies more than half of China’s energy needs. Thus, securing freedom of navigation through the Persian Gulf is of great importance for China.”