Ayatollah Khamenei (AP)
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, on Sunday highlighted the significance of deepening ties with China, describing the two nations as “ancient civilizations,” capable of driving major changes in regional and global affairs.In a post on X, he wrote, “Iran and China are two countries with ancient civilizations on the two sides of Asia that have the power to create a transformation in the region and the world.” Signalling Tehran’s intent to bolster cooperation with Beijing, he added, “implementing all the various dimensions of the strategic partnership agreement will help to pave the way for this,” he said.Khamenei’s remarks come ahead of Iran’s participation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which is set to take place from August 31 to September 1 in Tianjin, a city in North China. The summit is set to bring together over 20 foreign leaders along with heads of 10 international organisations.Attendees include leaders of SCO member states such as, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are attending the bloc’s biggest gathering since its establishment in 2001. Meanwhile, Putin is also scheduled to meet Erdogan and Pezeshkian on Monday for talks focused on the Ukraine war and Tehran’s nuclear program.Iranian diplomats held talks in Geneva with representatives from Britain, France, and Germany previously on the possible activation of UN “snapback” sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal, ahead of the October 18 deadline. Tehran has warned that triggering the mechanism could lead to the end of its cooperation with the IAEA.France, Britain, Germany, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal that eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. The US exited the accord in 2018.The UN Security Council resolution backing the deal expires on October 18, but under its provisions, UN sanctions can still be reimposed within the next 30 days, reports the Times of Israel.
