TEHRAN -- Chinese Premier 
Li Qiang explicitly condemned U.S. and Israeli aggression against Iran and pledged to deepen bilateral ties as the two countries marked 55 years of diplomatic relations.
Li made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian First Vice President Muhammad Reza Aref, telling him that what the Zionist regime and America did against Iran is a clear aggression that occurred in the middle of negotiations and without a license from the United Nations Security Council.
China’s positions in condemning the actions of America and the Zionist regime and defending Iran’s legitimate rights are completely clear and decisive, Li said, according to the readout.
 “We want the revival of the Islamabad agreement and we explicitly oppose America’s unilateral sanctions.”
Li stressed Beijing’s commitment to expanding ties, invoking a Persian proverb: “The two great civilizations of Iran and China have thousands of years of history and deep commonalities, and as you Iranians say, ‘hearts find their way to hearts’; therefore we have a serious will to further strengthen the foundation of friendship between the two countries and peoples and to firmly defend Iran’s legitimate rights in international forums.”
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, where expanding trade and transportation were on Iran’s agenda.
The exchange came as Beijing and Tehran marked the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties—a milestone both governments have publicly welcomed as an opportunity to accelerate implementation of their 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement. 
In an anniversary message, Zhao Leji, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, told Iranian Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf that Beijing welcomes a “new chapter” in bilateral relations.
Zhao, responding to Ghalibaf’s congratulatory note, said relations had developed “continuously and healthily” over the past 55 years and that the traditional friendship between the two peoples had been further consolidated. 
He described parliamentary exchanges as an “inseparable part” of China-Iran relations and said the National People’s Congress stands ready to steadily raise the level of cooperation with the Iranian parliament,
 expressing hope that both sides would use the anniversary to create conditions for “new progress.”
Ghalibaf, who also serves as Iran’s special representative for China affairs, has in recent weeks pushed for deeper legislative ties with Beijing, calling in late September for broader exchanges of parliamentary delegations and stronger cooperation between specialized committees. 
He has also said Tehran seeks mechanisms with Beijing under the 25-year agreement that would contribute to shaping a “new regional order.”
Chinese officials have separately affirmed the relationship’s trajectory. Vice Foreign Minister Miao Deyu said in August that Beijing stands ready to work with Iran to ensure bilateral relations enjoy “enduring, steady, and long-term development,” while Foreign Minister Wang Yi has described China as a “trustworthy strategic partner” of Iran.
The anniversary messaging comes amid heightened regional tensions. A Chinese legislator, He Wei, visited Tehran in July for the funeral of martyred Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and met with Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian.