Iran, China must boost anti-terrorism cooperation

A senior Iranian official says Iran and China are bent on strengthening their cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism in the Middle East.

“Cooperation among Tehran, Beijing and Moscow regarding Syria is seriously going on,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with Meng Jianzhu, a member of the central committee of China’s Communist Party, and Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang in Tehran on Monday.

He added that Iran, China and Russia pursue a common and successful policy on the developments in Syria, stressing that joint efforts between Tehran and Beijing “prevented Syria from turning into a new Libya.”

The Iranian diplomat said the battle against terrorism must be accompanied by the reconstruction of war-torn Syria.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. According to reports, Western powers and their regional allies -- namely Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

The Chinese assistant foreign minister, for his part, said Iran plays an influential role in regional developments and proposed that Tehran, Beijing and Moscow establish a mechanism for talks over regional developments.

He added that China and Russia recognize Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy and are making efforts to help the P5+1 and Tehran reach a final comprehensive deal over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

Representatives from Iran and the P5+1 – China, Russia, the US, Britain, France and Germany – wrapped up their latest talks over Iran's nuclear program in the Omani capital, Muscat, on November 11.

The two sides are working to hammer out a comprehensive deal after they clinched an interim nuclear accord last November that took effect on January 20 and expired six months later. The deadline for the talks has been set for November 24.