Iran's Raisi heads to China
President Ebrahim Raeisi says Iran and China have similar views on fighting unilateralism at the international level.
Raeisi made the remarks while speaking to reporters before leaving Tehran for Beijing on Monday on a state visit to China.
He said both countries are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and this membership helped them have close ties with countries in the region and elsewhere in Asia.
He added that the SCO membership has finalised Iran’s connection to regional infrastructure and has provided Tehran with a good ground to cement its relations with Asian countries, including China.
“We have good global and international contacts and have common positions with China on countering unilateralism and [maintaining our] political independence,” Iran’s president said.
During his groundbreaking visit to China, Raeisi is being accompanied by Iran’s foreign minister and some ministers.
His delegation also includes the governor of the Central Bank of Iran and Ali Baqeri, who is both Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs and the country’s top negotiator in the sanctions removal talks with other signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Raeisi’s visit to China is his 10th foreign trip during the past one and a half years and has been undertaken on the official invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
