Iran says 25-year deal with China in draft stage due to delays

Tehran says Washington wants to know the ins and outs of other countries’ economic relations with Iran. The Trump-led US administration will use it in order to put pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on those friendly countries

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New Delhi: Citing technical issues and lack of proper recognition of priorities, Iran announced that its 25-year-long cooperation agreement with China continues to be in the draft stage. The statement from Tehran comes amid the reeling pressure from the United States to extend the sanctions imposed Iran – barring it from international ties and trade.

The comment, which has raised several eyebrows across Asia and the American continent – was made by Saeed Jalili, a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He was speaking at a gathering of the officials of Tehran University Student Basij in Iran.

Responding to a question from the crowd, Jalili said that because of some delays and a lack of proper recognition of priorities in the agreement, the plan (cooperation pact between Iran and China) is still in the draft stage. “After a few years, due to some delays and a lack of proper recognition of priorities, the plan is still in the draft stage, and the explicit objections of US officials to it, indicate their concern and sense of danger of the failure of their maximum pressure strategy,” Jalili said while adding that the agreement between Tehran and Beijing is like any other contract which needs to go through its legal stages.

The representative of the Supreme Leader at the Supreme National Security Council advised Iranian students to monitor the position of enemies on various issues and stated. “Analyze the reasons for the anger of the United States and the hostile statements of this regime’s officials toward such cooperation,” he pointed.

Jalili claimed that because of the strategy of maximum pressure against Iran and the imposition of secondary sanctions on countries that do not adhere to its sanctions, the United States wants to know the ins and outs of other countries’ economic relations with Iran. “The US will use it in order to put pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on those countries,” Jalili alleged.

The senior Iranian politician said that the expansion of Iran’s economic cooperation means the failure of the US strategy of maximum pressure, and the correct policy is to protect this cooperation against the enemy in various ways.

The drafting of a strategic document on 25 years of cooperation between Iran and China was one of the most important pieces of news in Iran’s foreign policy in recent months, which also caused a great deal of controversy. Although some tried to suggest that the document is in violation of Iran’s independence, many experts, analyzing the overall content of the draft document, considered it a good tool for promoting Iran’s regional and global position, especially in the context of the US sanctions.

Political analysts claim that the pro-Western stance of President Hassan Rouhani’s government missed a huge opportunity for relations with the East, especially China; an issue that only toward the end of Rouhani’s second term, attracted the attention of his government. Perhaps the issue of “delay” in drafting and finalizing this document, mentioned by Jalili, can be assessed as the result of the Rouhani government’s late attention to the capacity of non-Western countries.