It is significant that Iran attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit last week at a time when the US withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, and reimposed sanctions against Tehran, says a Chinese newspaper.
Under the threat, Iran has attached great importance to its economic development. Therefore, economic and trade cooperation is the main purpose of Iran’s participation. The other goal is to seek political and moral support from China and other SCO member states for the nuclear deal, Han Jianwei wrote for the Global Times on Tuesday.
For a long time, China has no direct political interest and concerns in the Middle East, nor does it want to step on the red line of big powers. But as more and more Chinese enterprises enter the region, a stable and developing Middle East is becoming more and more important to China.
On the Iran nuclear issue, China can play a constructive role given that Europe finds its hands tied to save the JCPOA, On the one hand, China firmly supports Iran’s opposition to US hegemony and unilateral sanctions from a moral standpoint. China and Russia said in a joint statement signed on Friday that the US withdrawal is disappointing and they will try their best to safeguard the deal and take note of the extreme importance of protecting the interests of all parties who engage in economic and trade cooperation with Iran.
On the other, China and Iran are likely to find common ground, especially over a new model to combat US financial hegemony, and a currency swap would be a good start. As Iran’s largest oil importer and its biggest trading partner, China will continue to maintain normal economic and trade ties despite US sanctions.
