news
World news
the Middle East
U.S. maximum pressure ended in a Chinese embrace for Iran
After 5 years of courtship by Beijing, Tehran has signed a strategic agreement with it for a quarter of a century.
The Trump administration's policy ends with a steady supply of Iranian oil to China, in exchange for investment and security cooperation.
"We have turned sanctions into opportunities," said Khamenei, who was in no hurry to resume talks with the Biden administration.
Tags
United States
Iran
China
Guy Elster
Sunday, 28 March 2021, 18:27
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on general
Share on general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
0 comments
Yahya Sinwar won another term as Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip ...
Biden: Ready to return to negotiations with Iran, must also be addressed ...
The rescue attempt of the cruise ship stuck in the Suez Canal
Documentation from an Iranian UAV of the ship owned by the Israeli ...
Economic collapse
Customers in a supermarket in Beirut quarreled ...
Optimism in Yemen after promise that US will withdraw its support ...
Reports in Syria: Israel attacks targets in the region ...
Biden: "Saudi king should take responsibility for breach ...
Jordanian health minister resigns over corona deaths ...
Israel sends Gaza first shipment of Corona vaccines ...
A decade of war in Syria: 380,000 killed, 200,000 ...
Yemen: 44 killed in a fire that broke out following the Houthi firing ...
China's foreign minister and Iranian president meet in Iran (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping offered Iran a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement as early as 2016, but Tehran then preferred to wait for the fruits of investment by Western companies after the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions.
These were reluctant to come due to the United States' unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and the "maximum pressure" policy of former President Donald Trump.
Five years later and President, the Islamic Republic agreed to accept China's embrace.
The agreement, signed yesterday in Tehran, could deepen China's influence in the Middle East and hurt the United States' attempts to isolate Iran, which is in no hurry to return to the nuclear deal.
A senior Biden administration official has already signaled for softer positions over the weekend, saying Washington and Tehran can take confidence-building measures at the same time.
But Iran is still determined to lead to the lifting of sanctions imposed on it since the Trump administration released the nuclear deal in 2018, before returning to fulfilling its commitments.
China, one of the powers that signed the nuclear deal signed in 2015, is in favor of Tehran.
"Rouhani and the moderates have entered the role with a promise to improve Iran's economy with the nuclear deal and openness to the United States, and they will leave the role with a huge economic agreement with China," tweeted Prof. Vali Nasser, an Iranian expert at John Hopkins University.
"Instead of keeping Iran neutral, the failure of American policy has given it to China."
China, studying US sanctions like Iran, is looking for a foothold in the region that has occupied the United States for decades.
It even offered to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to wake up the negotiations, which are in a long-standing coma.
"China is on Iran's side in upholding its sovereignty and national dignity," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yin said during a meeting yesterday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
More on Walla!
Bypassing sanctions: Iran and China have signed a 25-year cooperation agreement
To the full article
Read more on the subject
With a shattered economy and tens of thousands dead, Iran marks a new year: "The worst situation in the world"
Report: Iran has rejected a proposal for direct talks with the US and Europe
Conflict at first meeting between Biden and China: "Beijing threatens world order"
Preliminary diagnostic service that saves critical time and enables life-saving medical treatment
"China stands by Iran's side in upholding its sovereignty and national dignity."
Wang Yi Zarif in Tehran, yesterday (Photo: AP)
Wang, who arrived in Iran after visiting Turkey and continued from Tehran to Saudi Arabia, said the United States should immediately lift its sanctions on Iran "and halt its far-reaching legal moves against China, among others."
The United States and other Western countries have in recent months imposed sanctions on senior officials and companies in China involved in the repression and human rights violations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang Province.
Beijing has responded with sanctions against lawmakers and entities that monitor what is happening in these districts.
Both sides have not elaborated on the content of the agreement, which will be implemented in practice without reviving the nuclear agreement and the removal of US sanctions is still a lot of fog.
Beyond the general areas mentioned by Iranian sources, such as China's investments in energy and infrastructure, the details of the strategic agreement were mentioned in a draft published last year in the New York Times.
According to the same 18-page draft, China will invest $ 400 billion in the next quarter century in dozens of sectors, including banking, communications, ports, railways, healthcare and technological information.
In return, China starving for energy will receive permanent, and presumably, access to Iranian oil.
In addition, the draft agreement noted the tightening of military cooperation, including joint training and exercises, joint research and development of weapons and the distribution of intelligence information.
All of this is supposed to worry the United States and Israel.
China will get permanent access, and at a discount.
Oil rigs in Abadan, Iran (Photo: Reuters)
Not everyone in Iran is satisfied with the agreement with China, fearing that the government, with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has made too many concessions to Beijing. But the oppressive economic pressure and desperation to obtain vaccines against the corona did their part, and in the evening of President Hassan Rouhani's rule, the tide turned. Leading the talks with China on behalf of Khamenei was former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who is mentioned as a possible candidate in the June presidential election.
Hassam a-Din Ashna, a senior adviser to Rouhani, said the agreement with China was "an example of successful diplomacy" And signaled the regime's ability to "participate in coalitions, and not remain in isolation."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is likely to end his tenure at the end of Rouhani's tenure, called China "a society in difficult times" and recalled ancient relations between Persia and China. However, Zarif expressed reservations about the publication of the articles of the agreement - which implies concern angry reactions among the public. strategic agreements similar to China with other countries in Asia and Africa put many of these huge debts, and they were forced to pledge part of their assets strategic to compensate them.
the Iranian leadership will try to prove that it did not was enslaved China only develops relationships with friendly countries and non-Western. Russia, given the increasing pressure from the United States, may be next in line to try to strengthen its presence in the Iranian market.
Khamenei, declared that it is impossible to rely more on the United States and Europe due to disappointment nuclear deal, said that Tehran has managed to turn the "sanctions into an opportunity "". "We were able to steer our boat," he announced hours after signing the agreement with China.
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on general
Share on general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
0 comments
