Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref has underscored shared Iran-China interests in further expanding their relations, saying that the strategic ties between the two nations could be further developed.
The official made the remarks in the capital Tehran on Monday, in a meeting with members of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
“There are no obstacles to expanding relations with this country,” he said, adding that the countries’ strategic ties could be further developed based on their shared interests.
According to the vice president, the “shared foundation” that could be used towards further invigorating the ties rested on the two sides’ commercial, cultural, and social relations that went back centuries, as well as their tourism exchanges of the past decades.
Addressing the prospect of enhanced economic and trade relations, Aref stressed that administrative barriers facing economic actors and entrepreneurs had to be removed through cooperation and dialogue between the two sides.
He attributed the importance that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration placed on further strengthening of the ties to its foreign policy priority of enhancing relations with countries that share a civilizational sphere with Iran.
Aref also underlined the importance of expanding scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries.
The official appreciated the efforts that had been invested by Iran’s private sector towards advancing economic relations with China over the past decades.
He encouraged the chamber of commerce to “step up to deepen economic ties with China on behalf of the private sector.”
Also present at the meeting, Majid-Reza Hariri, the chamber’s president, emphasized that the body’s resources and capabilities were at the service of advancing the administration’s goals concerning Sino-Iranian relations.
According to Hariri, the chamber and the private sector could play a significant role in expanding bilateral cooperation in the areas of innovation, technology, industry, and transportation.
He cited Beijing as “a key economic partner” of the Islamic Republic.
The countries signed a landmark 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement in March 2022 in defiance of unilateral sanctions imposed on the nations by the United States.
The deal officially documents the Iran-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that had been announced during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran in 2016.
It sets the outlines of cooperation in political, cultural, security, defense, regional, and international domains for the upcoming 25 years.
Promotion of neighborly ties
Elsewhere in his remarks, the vice president noted how the country also attached importance to the expansion of its relations with its neighbors and regional countries.
“For the Islamic Republic, strengthening ties with neighboring and regional countries is no longer just a tactic. It has rather become a strategic imperative.”
“An operational task force should be formed to identify and eliminate the barriers hindering the expansion of cooperation” with those nations, the official stated.