Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has bragged about signing an MoU for strategic cooperation with Beijing.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that the cooperation agreement between Iran and China is crystal clear. However, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "The Iranian nation will not recognize a new secret 25-year agreement between Iran and China," and warned that any contract signed with a foreign country without the people's knowledge will be void.
ISNA news agency reported the FM as saying that it is normal to have enemies of strategic cooperation who wish to ruin bilateral ties.
The minister added that when the agreement was signed between President Hassan Rouhani and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in 2016, it was highly welcomed by Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Mousavi dismissed reports claiming that there are new negotiations about the cooperation plan. However, he said the content of this “agreement will be revealed once it is finalized.”
Mousavi denied “reports about the 25-year contract with China," adding that “the document is a source of pride and secures the interests of both nations.”
He further expressed Iran’s intention to have long-term ties with countries which it enjoys good ties with.
