Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pleaded during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif for the creation of a “multilateral dialogue platform”, with the aim of defusing tensions in the Middle East, according to Beijing .
The two men, who spoke on Saturday in China in Tengchong (southwest), also displayed their unity in defense of the Iran nuclear agreement of 2015, denouncing “unilateralism” and “intimidation” the United States.
Tensions in the Middle East are high between Iran and Saudi Arabia, notably because of the war in Yemen, Iranian influence in Iraq or Saudi support for Washington’s “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
“Faced with the legitimate concerns of all parties in matters of security, China is proposing the creation of a platform for multilateral and regional dialogue,” Wang Yi said, according to a statement released by his ministry on Saturday evening.
“All stakeholders would participate on an equal footing, in order to improve mutual understanding through dialogue and discuss political and diplomatic means to resolve security issues,” he pleaded.
The only precondition set by Wang Yi is the defense of the international Iran nuclear deal, from which the United States withdrew in 2018.
President Donald Trump considered this text insufficient to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to curb Tehran’s behavior deemed “destabilizing” in the Middle East.
Since then, the tenant of the White House has reinstated and then tightened all the American sanctions lifted in 2015. And the two countries have appeared several times on the verge of direct confrontation.
“China opposes any unilateral act that undermines the agreement [nucléaire] and will continue to promote its implementation, ”said Wang Yi, calling for strengthening cooperation with Iran“ to defend multilateralism ”and“ to oppose intimidation ”.
On Twitter, Javad Zarif praised Saturday the “fruitful discussions” which have made it possible to strengthen bilateral ties in terms of regional cooperation, vaccines against COVID-19, or even the defense of the nuclear agreement.
“We have rejected American unilateralism and the United States’ attempts to create a unipolar world,” he stressed.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Javad Zarif, whose country is by far the most affected in the Middle East by COVID-19, also praised China for its “remarkable achievements” in the fight against the coronavirus.