Iran says wants China's help to resolve Middle East tensions
Iran wants China's help to resolve tensions and unrest in the Middle East and is ready to play host to more Chinese firms once sanctions against it are lifted, Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday
China and Iran have close diplomatic, economic, trade and energy ties, and China has been active in pushing both the United states and Iran to reach agreement on Iran's nuclear program. Under the multilateral deal, agreed in July, sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and United Nations will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing to long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. "China and Iran find mutual benefits in many areas," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at the beginning of a meeting in Beijing. China is the biggest customer of Iranian oil and Zarif said their economies were "complementary". The two countries faced "similar challenges as well as opportunities", he said.
