TEHRAN — The enemies oppose deepening of economic and commercial ties between Iran and China, says Iranian presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi.

“The issues that are raised in social media are not true,” Vaezi said on Saturday night on national television, Mehr reported.

“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.”

He 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 25-year agreement with China defines a roadmap to mutual cooperation without any discussion about Iran’s southern islands or deployment of military forces, the veteran politician said.

The media speculations about the deal are just “illusions and rumors” spread by certain parties who try to disrupt Iran’s relations with China, he stated.

Vaezi said the frameworks of the agreement have been defined, but it has not been finalized yet.

Any binding agreement must be ratified by the parliament, so that nothing would be hidden from the country’s legal bodies, the president’s chief of staff underlined, assuring the people that the agreement with China would comply with the constitution.

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

“This plan proves 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.

Guardian Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodaei said on Saturday that the council supports the Iran-China partnership plan.

“All international agreements and deals must be reviewed in the Majlis and the Guardian Council, and the same is true of Iran and China’s 25-year plan,” Kadkhodaei said during a press conference, according to ISNA. 

“In my opinion, the totality of Iran and China’s 25-year plan was good and we should support it,” he said. “The enemy’s stance shows that the Islamic Republic has taken the right path.”

MH/PA