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Tehran Defends Deal with Beijing amid Rising Concerns

The Iranian and Chinese Foreign Ministers in Tehran, AP
The Iranian and Chinese Foreign Ministers in Tehran, AP
    London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Tehran Defends Deal with Beijing amid Rising Concerns

The Iranian and Chinese Foreign Ministers in Tehran, AP
The Iranian and Chinese Foreign Ministers in Tehran, AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has thrown his full weight behind the recently signed 25-year partnership deal between Beijing and Tehran, reaffirming in statements on social media that the agreement does not require parliamentary approval.

Iranian officials have been applying multiple titles in reference to the signed document, details of which remain undisclosed to the Iranian public. The secrecy has only fueled concerns and triggered unending speculation that the Iranian government is offering too much in exchange for too little.

“The document imposes no obligation on either side,” Zarif stressed in a separate post on his Instagram page.

It is worth noting that while the Iranian Foreign Ministry is by law in charge of handling the China deal, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has also appointed one of his senior advisers, Ali Larijani, who is also Iran’s longest-serving parliament speaker, as a key negotiator.

The Iranian supreme leader’s choice appeared as an assurance to Beijing that the Iranian approach toward the deal is nonpartisan and could not be overruled by changing administrations in Tehran.

Kamal Kharrazi, a former foreign minister and a Khamenei aide himself, has confirmed that the Chinese side “demanded that someone representative of the Nezam be involved as well.” Nezam is the umbrella term Iranian officials use to refer to the Islamic Republic in its entirety under Khamenei’s leadership.

More so, Zarif made an unannounced appearance in a virtual conversation on the audio-chat app Clubhouse on Wednesday where he addressed a range of topics, including the recent agreement with China.

Zarif joined the conversation along with other officials, including Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, and addressed an audience of over 8,000 listeners, becoming the highest-ranking Iranian official yet to take part in a Clubhouse room.

In his speech at the event, he championed the deal with Beijing and said that it was natural for secrecy to engulf such deals as the releasing of any details requires consent from both parties.

He also said that since the agreement with China entailed no obligations, it wasn’t constitutionally mandated to gain consent from parliament first.

Zarif’s support for the contentious deal was also coupled with foreign-based Iranian opposition activists and exiled journalists getting effectively silenced during the entire Clubhouse meeting.

Zarif’s moderators had banned them from raising any questions.

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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Danish Leader Tells the US ‘You Cannot Annex Another Country’ as She Visits Greenland

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's acting head of government Mute Bourup Egede attend a press conference aboard the Danish Navy inspection vessel Vaedderen, in the waters around Nuuk, Greenland, April 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Denmark's prime minister has told the US during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said on Friday that Washington will respect Greenland's self-determination and Copenhagen “should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was wrapping up a three-day visit to the strategically critical Arctic island on Friday as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.

A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.

Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland's incoming and outgoing leaders on board a Danish naval ship. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.

Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”

“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.

“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”

“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.

The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”

Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump's designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.

In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”

He said Trump's point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we're going to protect America's interests come hell or high water.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was attending a meeting in Brussels with his NATO counterparts, wrote on social network X that he had an “honest and direct” meeting Thursday with Rubio.

“I made it crystal clear that claims and statements about annexing Greenland are not only unacceptable and disrespectful,” Løkke Rasmussen wrote. “They amount to a violation of international law.”

Rubio told reporters in Brussels Friday that “no one's annexed anything.” He added that Vance has made clear that “he's going to respect the self-determination of Greenlanders.”

“Denmark should focus on the fact that the Greenlanders don’t want to be a part of Denmark," Rubio said.

“We didn’t give them that idea. They’ve been talking about that for a long time,” he said. "Whenever they make that decision, they’ll make that decision.”

“If they make that decision, then the United States would stand ready, potentially, to step in and say, okay, we can create a partnership with you," Rubio said, adding that "we’re not at that stage.”