Iran, China Eager to Improve Defense Coop.

Chairman of the General Staff of Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri arrived in Beijing on Wednesday at the head of a military delegation to discuss ways of improving Iran-China defense cooperation.  
Speaking to reporters upon arrival, Baqeri described China as an important country, saying Iran's military and defense cooperation with Beijing is developing along with their political and economic relations, IRNA reported.  
"Iran-China relations have been improving to a strategic level since 2016 and a comprehensive plan for the development of cooperation has been devised and exchanged between the two countries," he said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Tehran in 2016 in which the two sides reviewed a 25-year roadmap for strategic relations.