Iran will never bow down to US bullying behavior, President Raeisi tells China’s Xi
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation will never yield to the United States' hegemony and bullying, and will never give in to Washington’s pressures, stressing that US and European states have failed to honor their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.
Raeisi made the marks in a face-to-face meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
He lambasted the US and European parties to the Iran deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for their failure to comply with their obligations and lift sanctions against Tehran, emphasizing that, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will never bow before the US bullying.”
Raeisi added, “Iran, irrespective of all enmities, has not been stopped and will not be stopped. It has managed to continue its path of progress and development.”
He also appreciated China’s constructive positions as to Iran’s full membership of the SCO, and welcomed Beijing’s role in facilitating Tehran’s accession to the group of five major emerging economies known as BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Raeisi went on to laud the 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement between Iran and China as a sign of the Asian countries’ willpower for the all-out expansion of bilateral relations.
For his part, Xi praised the independent positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning international issues, stating that Iran-China relations are strategic relations and will continue to develop regardless of any international development.
The Chinese president also emphasized his country’s readiness to effectively utilize interactive mechanisms, and help meetings and exchanges of high-ranking delegations of the two countries.
Xi pointed to Iran’s important role in regional and international spheres, saying, “China supports the full membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the BRICS club.
He also officially invited President Raeisi to pay a visit to China.
The United States, under former president Donald Trump, abandoned the agreement in May 2018 and reinstated unilateral sanctions that the agreement had lifted.
The talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in the Austrian capital city of Vienna in April last year, months after Joe Biden succeeded Trump, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.
Despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.
