PHOTO: Xinhua
On February 20, 2019, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi said that China’s resolve to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran will remain unchanged no matter how the international and regional situation changes, hailing that China and Iran have a long history of friendship and share long-tested mutual trust and friendship. He called on both sides to step up communication and coordination, meet each other halfway to property advance their pragmatic cooperation, and strengthen exchanges in security, terrorism, and culture.
President Xi also called for closer collaboration and coordination within multilateral frameworks to jointly promote the building of a new type of international relations and foster a community with a shared future for humanity. He recognized exchanges between legislative bodies of two countries as an important part of the comprehensive strategic partnership, calling on the National People’s Congress of China and Iranian Parliament to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, learn from each other’s experience in state governance, cement communication and coordination in international and regional organizations, and play a bigger role in promoting bilateral relations.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani responded that Iran views and develops relations with China from a strategic and long-term perspective, and that strengthening bilateral cooperation is not only in the fundamental interests of the two countries but also important for peace, stability, and development in Asia and the world. He added that Iran is willing to deepen political mutual trust with China, promote pragmatic cooperation and increase mutual support in international and regional affairs.
The delegation included Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who met with his counterpart Wang Yi in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday. The Foreign Ministers agreed to continue to strengthen communication and coordination on the Iran nuclear issue, safeguard their respective legitimate rights and interests, implement the nuclear agreement, and defend multilateral rules.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that he was “really delighted” to meet with Zarif “given the major changes in the Middle East and the international landscape”, and “would like to take this opportunity to have this in-depth strategic communication with my old friend to deepen the strategic trust between our two countries and to ensure fresh progress of the comprehensive strategic partnership”. He added that China attaches importance to and looks forward to Iran’s playing a more significant role in regional affairs.
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said that Iran considers China an important and all-around cooperation partner. He said, “Our relationship with China is valuable to us. We consider the comprehensive strategic partnership between Iran and China as one of our most important relations.” He commended the Belt and Road Initiative and said Iran stands ready to actively participate in the cooperation on the initiative.
Also on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended energy cooperation between China and Iran at a regular news conference, saying that the energy collaboration between the two nations is legitimate, lawful, governed by the framework of international law and should be respected and safeguarded.
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
