Xi: China willing to expand strategic ties with Iran

July 11, 2015 - 0:0

TEHRAN – Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing is willing to expand “strategic” ties with Iran.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the joint summits of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Russian city of Ufa on Thursday.

He stated that the two countries already enjoy “strategic” relationship but relations should be expanded.

Commenting on the nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), Xi said that the talks have entered the final stage and all sides seek to reach a conclusion.

The Iranian president called for expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries and praised China’s role in the nuclear talks.

Rouhani also held a separate meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

He said his government attaches great importance to cooperation between Iran and India in rooting out terrorism in the Mideast region.


------- Tehran, Moscow should cooperate to root out terrorism ------

In a separate meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Ufa on Thursday, Rouhani said that Iran and Russia should take more “serious” steps to fight against terrorism and cooperate to root it out with participation of other countries in the Mideast region.

Pointing to terrorism in Iraq and Syria, Rouhani said that multilateral cooperation in fight against terrorism is essential.

The Iranian president also described the crisis in Yemen as a “tragedy” and called on Russia to help stop the killing of the Yemeni people by Saudi Arabia.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said that Iran-Russia relations are “strategic”.

For his part, Putin stated that the two countries’ relations have grown in various areas.

He also said that “remarkable” progress has been made in the nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany).

Putin added the Moscow has been defending Iran for its right to nuclear energy.

Putin also highlighted the necessity to counter terrorism and extremism.

He described interaction between Iran and Russia as “essential” in order to restore stability and security in the region.

NA/PA