Crossposted from PressTV
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif have signed a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, marking a milestone in bilateral relations between the two countries.
The two diplomats put their signatures on the document in Tehran Saturday in a ceremony carried live on national television.
Wang and Zarif also marked “half a century of friendly dilomatic relations” by opening an exhibition of documents on the two countries’ bilateral ties.
Wang said China’s relations with Iran will be “permanent and strategic” and will not be affected by the current situation.
“Iran decides independently on its relations with other countries and is not like some countries that change their position with one phone call,” he said in his meeting with Ali Larijani, an advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Referring to historic and friendly relations between Tehran and Beijing, Wang stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation within the framework of the 25-year strategic partnership agreement and expressed his satisfaction with the deal’s finalization.
The two sides further explored ways to develop political, economic and strategic ties, underlining the need for close consultations between the two countries to promote long-term cooperation.
The top Chinese diplomat who is in Tehran for a two-day visit also met with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
The Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was announced in a joint statement during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping 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.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the document is a “roadmap” for trade, economic and transportation cooperation, with a “special focus on the private sectors of the two sides.”
This has been a momentous week.
It really began with Joe “the Hologram”, Crash Test Dummy Biden “dancing” down the up stairs to AF One. Joe didn’t fall. He was doing the Delaware three step.
Alaska’s slapstick comedy was next. Blinken tried to scare the Chinese. The Chinese pissed on his shoes in return. Someone tell the Biden crowd that China is not afraid of the USA.
All the geopolitical context set before this with FM Lavrov announcing that EU could go f*ck themselves diplomatically. Russia would have no more diplomacy with the EU.
Biden calling Putin a killer. Another sign of American arrogance and ineptitude at the top.
Then came the Russian messages to the Americans. Putin and Shoigu in the taiga, walking across a suspension foot bridge. Clearly, stumbling Joe Biden, leader of the free world would need six Secret Service guys to hold him up on such a walkway.
Now, there is the synchronized submarine ice-breaking TikTok video. A signal to the Arctic brethren that the Arctic is home to Russians and it will be 50 years before the US dare such an event.
Russia may be years behind in some matters (Mars and Moon), but in what really matters on Earth, the Russians and Chinese are lapping the US and the West.
China has Iran inked for quarter century. China also is punching hard at the EU and whoever signs on to the libel about the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Lavrov in China, China and Iran, Putin and Shoigu, submarines and the Arctic, and throw in an Iskander ballistic missile in Syria to up the ante on Turkey and the ISIS proxies and you have a hell of a week.
Note also, Iran and Israel going at it with oil tankers getting hit with missiles.
It looks like payback from Iran against an Israeli ship. This was for the Iranian ship that Israel hit which leaked oil all over Israeli beaches.
Lots going on in the week.
Perhaps Beijing can barter trade (upgraded) Su-27s/Su-30s for Iranian oil. Iran’s air force is long overdue for upgrades, and the “Flanker” platform is a great starting point to promote interoperability with Russia & China. While Iranian pilots get trained on Su-27s, China should transfer it’s J-11 production line to Iran, and ramp up production of its J-20s using Iz-30 engines.
It would also be great for China to help build pipelines from Iran through Pakistan, ending in Xinjiang. Paid for, of course, in RMB.
I have also heard Iranian pistachios are tasty, not GMO, and hit by USA sanctions. Chinese people love pistachios, which are called 開心果, “kai xin guo” in Chinese, which literally means “happy nuts.” Increasing exports of “happy nuts” is a win-win for both sides.
China and Iran aren’t that sovereign if they had to sign the partnership under duress from the West.
BTW, 400 billions looks a lot, but it is for 25 years.
Not that much per year. But yea let’s focus on the big 400 number. No propaganda at all at work here.
@ Anonz – I agree. $400 billion sound like a lot ‘now’ but, over 25 years, and with inflation, in 20 years it will be peanuts. I personally think Iran is getting the short end of the stick on this, but, hey, they have a world power willing to stand side-by-side with them ‘now’ and that is significant considering the war-drums coming from the U.$. over the last 18 months.
Iran ‘could have done better’ but under the circumstances they ‘needed the support now’ and the show of support is what people will pay attention to when they try and ‘stick their noses into Iranian affairs.’
We’ll have to see how this plays out, and if the Chinese actually stick around when things get hot.
What’s in the agreement?
Steve9,
Not hard to find if you look. Knowledge is often a click or two away.
https://sputniknews.com/world/202103271082469069-iran-and-china-sign-historic-25-year-400-bln-strategic-partnership-agreement/
“The deal reportedly envisions increasing bilateral trade over 10-fold to $600 billion per year, and promises Iran Chinese investment of as much as $400 billion into the Middle Eastern nation’s oil, gas, petrochemicals, renewable energy and nuclear energy infrastructure, with Tehran committing to becoming a major reliable source of energy for Beijing.
“The accord also brings Iran into the grasp of Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure scheme – an ambitious scheme worth the equivalent of over $1 trillion aiming to link China to Europe and Africa via a series of new land- and sea-based infrastructure projects across dozens of nations.”
Two major points: it raises the relationship between the two nations to strategic cooperative partnership status. And, China will invest in building Iran’s infrastructure in exchange for oil.
The geopolitical result is Iran is coming inside the Belt and Road Initiative development. With its connection to the EAEU of Russia and its impending full membership in SCO, Iran is fully nested within Eurasia Integration.
The West (EU) just got sent to the back of the line. The Iranian marketplace is China’s. Iran can now get on with the future. Its future. This is very good for all the young people in that nation.
Major geo-political changes happening.
I am wondering how this puts Iran vis a vis the JPCOA? Its not necessary any longer is what I think and unilateral sanctions are now a dead duck firmly aimed at from Lavrov and his merry crew – they and other non-aligned are somehow going to dissipate the sanctions bite – currency swaps, local currencies, other financial messaging systems and so on.
Any thoughts on the use of JPCOA currently? I have this vision of the European poodles and the US pretenders sucking their thumbs :-)
Really well done, Iran and China.
It sounds like the Russians and Chinese will begin a strong international diplomatic action to fight unilateral sanctions. Technically, the only “legal” sanctions are from the UNSC or UNGA. Thus, US and US+vassals are illegal.
Putin and Lavrov have just recently addressed this situation of the illegality of sanctions.
With China and Iran joining in the club of “sanctioned” nations, the time is ripe for a coordinated effort.
The place for such a diplomacy action is the UN. China and Russia prefer using the UN for these issues.
We shall see . . .
Maybe some new form JCPOA will come forward.
Keep in the front of your mind that Russia and China are vehement about no new nations joining the ‘nuclear club’.
Keeping Iran non-nuclear is imperative to keep Turkey and Saudi Arabia non-nuclear.
Similarly, keeping nukes out of the military of Japan is crucial.
It was planned decades ago that Iran would become China most important energy supplier.
Several very significant pipe-line projects were planned, along with heavy road and rail links.
Part of the long term plan was to reduce vulnerability to shipping supply disruption caused by shipping “incidents” in the US dominated Persian Gulf.
Vulnerability to shipping “incidents” in the US dominated choke points of the South China Sea and the East China Sea were (and are) a very serious concern for China too.
Moving a significant proportion of oil overland would help reduce vulnerability to US Military and US economic action (such as sanctioning shipping companies transporting Iranian oil or servicing China).
A China- Iran oil and gas project was always on the cards, however every obvious route has been disrupted by either direct or indirect US action.
A more difficult pipeline transiting Iranian Oil and Gas through Pakistan and accross a well known “disputed” region has been trial blooned, but this resulted in direct confrontation with India.
A second pipe line to the Bay of Bengal has been examined, with Myanmar appearing to be the favourite transit nation. An oil tanker, and possibly also a gas tanker terminal in the bay of Bengal would avoid the various US controlled choke points around Indinsesia and the South China sea.
A transit corridor through Myanmar was proposed, however US intervention in Myanmars internals politics has stalled this, and now with the “Coup” in Myanmar hopes of a tanker terminal and an oil pipe-line straight to China through Myanmar looks to be on hold if not dashed completely.
Needless to say, any Iranian oil and gas being supplied to China would not be sold on the Petro-Dollar system. China may also decide to sell any excess oil and gas to her neighbours – again off the Petro-Dollar system.
This would be several more nails in the coffin for the ailing US Dollar dominated (enforced) global economy, something the US would seek to prevent by any means short of a direct shooting war (fighting between neigbours such as India and China and Coups and revolutions in poor countries bordering China, and of course “sanctions” on anything Iranian related are permitted of course).
Energy sales off the Petro-Dollar system (such as Nord Stream 2 would also allow) will be sabotaged by the US at every opportunity, as failiure to protect the US Dollar will mean eventual shrinkage and withdrawl (if not outright collapse) of the US military-economic empire.
The US is strangling both China and Iran – something which will eventually place them on a trajectory such as that between Japan and the US last century. This time it is not just the US that has nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, and technologically (and especially industrially) the US now sits at a lower table than China.
Watch out for further (US led) developments in Myanmar over the next few months and years intended to prevent China and Myanmar working together to create deep water ports, tanker terminals and oil pipe-lines. You heard it hear first.
It’s the old silk roads becoming the new silk roads. If the west stopped acting like spoiled brats throwing their toys out of the pram they could benefit in the same ways that Europe benefited back in the day. Its great to see this vision of the future whilst the west is falling apart at the seams with no vision beyond skimming/scamming more money from the proles and stashing it offshore. Greed and fear Vs shared vision and optimism.