Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday expressed Beijing’s satisfaction with the steps taken by Saudi Arabia and Iran to improve relations and lead a “wave of reconciliation” in the Middle East, since the Chinese-brokered agreement five months ago.
China “appreciates the correct decision made by the Iranian side,” Wang Yi said in a statement on Monday, adding that Beijing would continue to support the Middle East countries to explore development, in line with their own national conditions.
The minister pointed to the stalled negotiations between Iran and major powers on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. He believed that only by returning to the comprehensive and effective implementation of the nuclear deal can a fundamental solution to the Iranian nuclear issue be reached, Reuters reported.
Wang Yi directly supervised the intense Saudi-Iranian negotiations that took place in March, between Dr. Musaed Al-Aiban, Minister of State and member of the Council of Ministers, and Ali Shamkhani, former Secretary-General of the Iranian National Security Council, under the initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese foreign minister’s statement came hours after a phone call between Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on the memorandum of comprehensive cooperation between the two sides. The Iranian Foreign Ministry quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying that the comprehensive plan for cooperation between Iran and China for a period of 25 years “is on the right track.”
The agreement came days after Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the first by a senior Iranian official to Riyadh after 7 years of diplomatic rupture between the two countries.
China played a pivotal role in signing the agreement to resume relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a press conference on Monday that the Saudi-Iranian joint economic committee would convene soon, noting that the two sides discussed trade and customs cooperation.
He added that discussions between Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Amir-Abdollahian were “diverse, detailed and positive”, adding that the talks were progressing and could represent a new horizon in Iranian-Saudi relations.
