Iran, China vow to fight 'illegitimate, unilateral' sanctions

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Wang Yi talked about taking measures to counter the unilateral imposition of illegal sanctions as they met in Tunxi, China, on the sidelines of the third summit of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbors.

Amir-Abdollahian referred to the use of sanctions as a pressure tool by Western countries against independent nations, saying it was important to defy the sanctions in order to contribute to the establishment of stability and the prevention of Western-created crises.

On Wednesday, the US Treasury announced a fresh round of sanctions on an individual and companies linked with him for providing assistance to Iran’s ballistic missile program.

The US began to impose sanctions on Iran after former US president Donald Trump declared an unprovoked withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, in 2018 targeting the Iranian economy with what he called a “maximum pressure” campaign.

Negotiations were launched between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties in Vienna last April to bring the US back into compliance with the accord under the Joe Biden administration.

However, Washington has announced several more sanctions against Iran since the talks began, in what has been perceived in Tehran as bad faith measures by the administration of US President Joe Biden that had promised to rejoin the JCPOA and remove the anti-Iran sanctions.

Amir-Abdollahian further underscored the necessity of activating the two countries’ capacities to expand ties, especially in the economic sector.

The top diplomat also noted that the two countries have important cooperation in international organizations against the politicization of human rights and interference in the domestic affairs of countries.

Wang thanked Amir-Abdollahian for his attendance at the Afghanistan summit and underscored the need to implement the 25-year strategic partnership agreement between Tehran and Beijing.

In January, Amir-Abdollahian Wang signed the final documents to announce the start of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

The deal allows China to commit to hundreds of billions of dollars in investment in various sectors of the Iranian economy. Iran, in return, will commit to providing China with a stable supply of energy over the next 25 years.

The Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was announced in a joint statement during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran in 2016. It was officially signed in March 2021.

Source: Iran Daily