TEHRAN — Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has announced that Iran’s relations with China are entering a new stage, which has made the enemies miserable that their plots have failed.

“Iran as an important country in West Asia and China as an important country in East Asia have always had good relations,” Mousavi said during a press conference on Monday.

He explained that President Hassan Rouhani made a trip to China five years ago, during which the two sides agreed to push bilateral relations toward strategic partnership and to sign a comprehensive bilateral deal. 

“Since that time, several task forces worked on this issue, which eventually led to a draft that is paving the way for the final round of talks,” he explained.

According to Mousavi, some other countries are miserable that the partnership plan thwarted their tricks.

“All these attacks have roots abroad,” he said, pointing to the strong criticisms leveled at the Iran-China partnership plan.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on June 23 that Iran and China have drafted a 25-year plan for a comprehensive partnership that proves the failure of the plots to isolate the Islamic Republic.

“This plan proves the failure of the United States’ policies to isolate Iran, sever Iran’s relations with the international community and also to harm Iran’s will to expand relations with other countries,” Rabiei said during a press conference.

He said that the plan is based on a win-win approach which “heralds long term cooperation”.

“Recognizing cultural commonalities, encouraging multilateralism, supporting equal rights of the nations, and insisting on domestic development are parts of this plan,” the government spokesman explained.

The 25-year partnership plan has provoked bitter controversy, especially because of rumors that it entails the Chinese control on Iranian islands or the presence of their military forces in Iran.

Mousavi said the plan has not been finalized yet, maintaining that there’s an agenda behind the controversy.

“Whenever the document is finalized, it will be announced clearly,” he said. “Some [countries] do not want Iran to have good relations with the world.”

In similar remarks, the Iranian presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi said on Saturday that the enemies oppose the deepening of economic and commercial ties between Iran and China.

“The issues that are raised in social media are not true,” Vaezi said in a televised interview.

“The reason behind the enemy’s anger is that they have failed to reach their goals with regard to Iran,” he said, adding that the enemies “were after [fomenting] unrest and isolating the people and Iran and driving a wedge between the people and the establishment.”

Vaezi said the Iran-China roadmap does not entail the Chinese control on Iranian islands or the presence of their military forces by any means.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that if put into effect, the partnership would create new and potentially dangerous flash points in the deteriorating relationship between China and the United States.

According to the Times article, it represents a major blow to the Trump administration’s aggressive policy toward Iran since abandoning the nuclear deal reached in 2015 by President Obama and the leaders of six other nations after two years of grueling negotiations.

Zarif rejects rumors over sale of Kish Island to China

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denied rumors over the sale of Kish Island to China, saying the enemies are trying to prevent the development of Iran-China relations.

Spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Abolfazl Amouei said that during the committee’s Sunday meeting, the foreign minister and his deputies presented the latest news and analyses on the 25-year comprehensive Iran-China partnership.

“Zarif said that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s relations with China is a strategic relationship based on common interests and mutual respect,” Amouei said on Sunday, Mehr reported.

“According to the foreign minister, the process of drafting this document began with Mr. Xi Jinping's visit to Tehran in 2016, and the two countries decided to design a long-term roadmap during that visit, which the parties are still negotiating on,” he added.

He went on to say that Zarif “stressed the importance of taking into account the national interest in drafting the document and rejected rumors over the sale of Kish Island, as well as the sale of cheap oil to China, saying that these rumors have been circulated by enemies to prevent the development of Iran-China relations.”

MH/PA