China Plays Big Role in Iran’s Foreign Policy: FM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is in Beijing along with the country’s Parliament speaker, says China is of great importance in Iran’s foreign policy, and that’s demonstrated by strategic relations between the two governments.

“China is an important country for Iran and has a big role in Iran’s foreign policy,” IRNA quoted him as saying in a Tuesday meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

Zarif said the trip of a high-ranking politico-economic Iranian delegation, comprising senior officials including Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, is a new beginning in Tehran-Beijing relations and shows China’s importance for Iran.

“Iran’s most strategic relations in the world is with China,” he said.

The top Chinese diplomat, in turn, stressed the importance of relations between the two countries.

“The trip of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran in March 2016 has boosted the two countries’ relations to a strategic level,” he said.

A number of senior Iranian officials, including Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand and Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, are accompanying Zarif and Larijani in the trip.

Emad Askarieh

Emad Askarieh has worked as a journalist since 2002. The main focus of his work is foreign policy and world diplomacy. He started his career at Iran Front Page Media Group, and is currently serving as the World Editor and the Vice-President for Executive Affairs at the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website.