Iran’s Acting President Mohammad Mokbel reportedly described Iran’s relationship with China as “strategic.” This is significant because, while Iran is currently undergoing a presidential election, the Iranian regime has in recent months sought to strengthen ties with both Russia and China, two of Iran’s key partners.
Under the leadership of Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, Iran has worked hard to strengthen its ties with Russia and China. Iran has also joined various partnerships such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), and moved to become part of economic groupings linked to Russia and China.
The Iranian acting president met on Tuesday with China’s new ambassador to Iran, Cong Peiwu. The two discussed the recent long-term plan for China-Iran relations, which is set out in the cooperation document recently drawn up by the two countries, which should cover at least the next 25 years. The Iranian leader “emphasized the implementation of this document and promoting the activities of the private sectors of both countries.”
“Strengthening cooperation in the energy and transport sectors demonstrates the efforts and synergy of senior officials from the two countries to take a major step forward for the benefit of both countries,” Iranian state media IRNA reported.
The two discussed Iran’s membership in the SCO. China’s new ambassador said that China views Iran “from a strategic point of view” as it seeks to expand further into the Middle East. Iran is cooperating with China, and the three countries share views that tend to be anti-Western, including support for Hamas since October 7.
This is significant because it means that Russia and China, which have ties to Israel, have not been as cooperative in condemning Hamas terrorism and calling for peace in the region since October 7. Instead, their ties with Iran appear to have led them to take a more sympathetic view of Hamas.
At the same time, Iran’s acting president attended the SCO summit in Astana this week, a key grouping of Central Asian countries that also includes China and Russia.
IRNA reports
Mokbel arrived in the Kazakhstan capital on Wednesday to attend the 24th meeting of the SCO summit. He will address the meeting on July 4. “He will also hold bilateral meetings with officials of participating countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin,” the Iranian news agency reported.
The SCO originally included Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Iran, Pakistan and India recently joined the organisation, which “represents 40 percent of the world’s population and its member countries account for 25 percent of the world’s GDP,” IRNA claims.
