TEHRAN – The United States has reacted to the important state visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to China, accusing Iran of exporting terrorism.

Responding to a question on Raisi’s visit to China, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “I would leave it to those two countries to characterize the purpose of their meeting. I would just make a broader point, that there was a time not so long ago where the United States made a concerted effort to engage with the PRC on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program precisely because we recognize it to be a challenge to both of our countries. Our bilateral relationship with the PRC is complex; it is consequential. It is the most complex, probably the most consequential bilateral relationship we have. There are different aspects to that relationship that is primarily competitive. There are some aspects that are adversarial, potentially conflictual, which is why, again, we focused on maintaining those open lines of communication.”

He added, “But there are areas that have been or have the potential to be collaborative, where we do share interests, where it is in America’s interest to engage with the PRC.”

He said, “There are other challenges to the international system that Iran poses that also implicate the PRC, just as there are challenges to the international system that the PRC engages in that are of profound concern to us. So I will leave it to these countries to discuss the point of this meeting. Each country is going to have to determine the nature of its relationship with the PRC. But when it comes to Iran, we think it is important that the rest of the world make very clear that Iran’s nuclear advancements, that its efforts to export terrorism and malign influence throughout the region and potentially beyond, that is not something that any country should tolerate, and certainly not support.”