TEHRAN- The foreign ministers of Iran and China have emphasized the need to improve relations in accordance with their strategic 25-year collaboration agreement.

In a phone conversation on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi described the two countries’ relationship as “positive and progressing” while discussing world events.

The historic 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership, according to Iran’s top diplomat, is moving in the “right direction.”

The Chinese foreign minister also gave an encouraging assessment of the relations between the two nations. Wang also provided comments from China over the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa.

Iran is among many nations which have made an official application to join BRICS. Iran’s application has been welcomed by China.

Additionally, the senior Chinese diplomat said that Iran is seen as a key participant in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In spite of the United States’ unilateral sanctions against the two nations, Iran and China inked the 25-year deal in March 2021.

The agreement formalizes the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was launched in 2016 during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Tehran.

For the next 25 years, it establishes the general framework for cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, politics, culture, security, and defense.

Back in July, Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr, the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, received a Chinese delegation led by Chen Gang, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

In this meeting, Zolqadr praised the 25-year strategic partnership, saying that Iran and China are in the best state of interaction with each other.

They discussed a variety of issues related to Iran-China relations. The Iranian official said that based on historical documents, the history of relations between the two civilizations of Iran and China is more than 2200 years.

Referring to the exchange of visits between the Expediency Council and the Chinese ruling party, Zolqadr said, “These interactions can strengthen the relations between the two countries.”

Referring to the tenth anniversary of the establishment of relations between the Expediency Council and the Chinese ruling party, Zolqadr said, “The recent visit of the high-ranking delegation of the Council to China indicates the promotion and development of cooperation between the two countries. The presence of this delegation and the visit of the International Minister of the Communist Party of China to Iran in the near future can also be effective in the development of relations between the two countries.”  

Zolqadr added, “We believe that the experiences of a decade of relations between us should be used to develop the interactions between these two institutions.”

Referring to a visit by a delegation from the Expediency Council to China, the Iranian official said, “In this trip, emphasis was put on recognizing China's ‘development model’ and ‘governance’ and using the experiences of the two countries in ‘development’ and ‘governance’, which requires follow-up.”

The secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council emphasized the effective role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the “One Road - One Belt” plan and China's Global Development Initiative (GDI).

Zolqadr also pointed to the exchange of experiences between the two countries on issues such as fighting corruption, alleviating poverty, confronting American unilateralism, and finding solutions to counter the sanctions.

“We emphasize that these issues should be put on joint agenda and the research institutes and think tanks of the two institutions should improve their cooperation in these fields,” he continued.