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BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for a new forum to defuse tensions in the Middle East after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, where he reiterated Beijing’s support for Tehran.
Wang and Javid Zarif also reaffirmed their commitment to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, according to China’s Foreign Ministry, an implicit reprimand of the United States for abandoning the deal during their meeting on Saturday (October 10) in the city of Tengchong, southwest China.
Iran has been locked in a bitter relationship with Saudi Arabia, the other great Middle East power, over the war in Yemen, Iranian influence in Iraq and Saudi support for Washington’s sanctions on Tehran.
“China proposes to build a regional platform for multilateral dialogue with the equitable participation of all stakeholders,” the statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The forum “will enhance mutual understanding through dialogue and explore political and diplomatic solutions to security problems in the Middle East,” the statement added.
Wang added that support for the Iranian nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama administration but ultimately abandoned by Donald Trump, would be a precondition for entering the forum.
Zarif said on Twitter that his “fruitful conversations” with Wang amounted to a rejection of “American unilateralism” and had also focused on strategic ties and collaboration in developing a coronavirus vaccine.
