China Strengthens Relations With Iran After Death of President

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent

BEIJING/TEHRAN (Worthy News) – China said Wednesday it will continue to strengthen its “strategic cooperation” with Iran, despite Western concerns that Tehran seeks the destruction of Israel and backs Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special representative, Zhang Guoqing, commented while attending a memorial service for Iran’s late President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran.

Zhang, who met Iran’s Interim President Mohammad Mokhber, said President Xi had “sent a message of condolence following the unfortunate death of Raisi,”

Worthy News monitored.

Zhang stressed that Raisi “made important contributions to maintaining Iran’s security and stability” without elaborating.

Human rights groups counter that Raisi was involved in killing and detaining thousands of people, many of them political opponents, as part of his “security” policies.

Yet Zhang stressed that the late president had been met in “promoting national development and prosperity, and has made positive efforts to consolidate and deepen China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.”

He said that the “unfortunate death of Raisi,” whom critics view as the “Butcher of Tehran,” is “a great loss to the Iranian people, and the Chinese people have also lost a good friend.”

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Mokhber said the “Iranian side will further deepen the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.”

However, the United States has expressed concerns about the growing cooperation between China, Iran, and Russia, fearing it could lead to further instability in the world.

Russia uses Iran-made drones in attacks against Ukraine, while Beijing has declined to condemn the invasion. Tehran has also attacked Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles, with Russia and China doing little to use their influence to prevent that from happening, critics suggest.

In addition, the defense ministers of China and Iran reportedly agreed last month on closer cooperation on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kazakhstan.

Those talks suggested that the China-Iran “strategic partnership” goes beyond trade and also involves military ties between the Communist-run nation and the Islamic Republic that Israel says actively supports “terror groups and pursues nuclear weapons.”

Those concerns did little to prevent Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi from praising Iran when meeting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari at the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

“Iran has lost outstanding leaders, and China has lost good friends and partners, said Wang in comments published by Chinese media. “In this difficult time, China firmly stands by Iranian friends,” he added, referring to the death of President Raisi at age 63 on Sunday.

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