INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN - In a joint statement on Thursday, President Xi Jinping of China and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi called for a full and
the two presidents insisted.The two presidents also voiced their strong objection to efforts by some countries to politicize the work of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the implementation of the nuclear Safeguard Agreement.The negotiations to resurrect the JCPOA
have been stalemated since August 2022 as Washington refuses to lift all the sanctions that were imposed on Iran by the Donald Trump
administration.Also, the Iranian and Chinese presidents fully discussed cooperation in all areas as well as regional and international
developments and reached broad agreements, including accelerating the implementation of a strategic 25-year partnership agreement between
the two countries.Iran and China signed the landmark comprehensive strategic partnership agreement in March 2021 in defiance of unilateral
sanctions against the two countries by Washington.The deal officially documents the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that
had been announced during a visit by President Xi to Tehran in 2016.Elsewhere in their statement, Raisi and Xi reiterated their firm support
for the establishment of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.They highlighted the role of the NPT
Review Conference in forcing Israel to join the treaty and placing all its nuclear facilities under the IAEA supervision.The two sides
emphasized the importance of disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons for improving international peace and reiterated their
respect for the inalienable rights of all NPT signatories to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.Iranian and Chinese presidents
to the two countries' basic interests, protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.According to the statement, the Chinese
policy, it added.They also agreed to accelerate the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan and further development of
cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, industry, renewable energy and infrastructure.According to the statement, the Chinese president
also accepted an invitation from his Iranian counterpart to pay a visit to Tehran.
