Sunday, 28 March 2021 6:46 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 March 2021 7:19 AM ]
Major American papers and news outlets have warned about decline in the United States’ power and sphere of influence--particularly its failure to isolate Iran and China-- as they covered a historic agreement signed between Tehran and Beijing.
The comprehensive strategic partnership agreement was inked by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Tehran on Saturday.
The deal served to officially document the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that had been announced during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran in 2016. It sets the outlines of the historic allies’ cooperation in political, cultural, security, defense, regional, and international domains for the next 25 years.
The Wall Street Journal said the emergence of the deal marked the two sides’ “defiance of US attempts to isolate Iran and advancing Tehran’s longstanding efforts to deepen diplomatic ties outside Western powers.”
The Bloomberg news agency wrote, “The alliance between Beijing and Tehran is a challenge to US President Joe Biden’s administration as it sets about trying to rally allies against China, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said is the world’s ‘greatest geopolitical test.’”
It also noted that “Iran’s closer integration with China may help shore up its economy against the impact of the US penalties,” referring to Washington’s illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
The New York Times also called the pact a “sweeping” agreement, noting its impact on the Sino-Iranian economic and security cooperation.
“The deal could deepen China’s influence in the Middle East and undercut American efforts to keep Iran isolated,” the daily wrote. The Chinese foreign minister’s visit, it added, “reflected China’s growing ambition to play a larger role in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades.”
Tweeting after the deal was inked, China’s Ambassador to Tehran Chang Hua called Iran and China “comprehensive strategic partners,” hailing how the Chinese top diplomat’s visit had culminated in “a complete success” and asserting that the countries’ ties were based on “friendship and cooperation.”
Also reacting to the news, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council said the agreement marked “the US’s political defeat” and frustration of Washington’s sanctions, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen network reported.
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News / Economy
Iran-China deal challenges Biden’s efforts to weaken Beijing: Bloomberg analysis
Sunday, 28 March 2021 1:15 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 March 2021 1:15 PM ]
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) talks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a rally with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, or the People Act, on the East Steps of the US Capitol on March 08, 2019 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are seen in this photo while signing the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” deal between the two countries in Tehran on March 27, 2021. (Via IRNA)
The “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” deal signed over the weekend between Iran and China marks a new alliance between the two countries that would weaken US government’s policies to pressure Beijing, says an analysis by the Bloomberg.
“The latest alliance between Beijing and Tehran is a challenge to US President Joe Biden’s administration as it sets about trying to rally allies against China,” read part of the analysis published on Sunday as it discussed the broad geopolitical ramifications of the 25-year agreement signed between Iranian and Chinese foreign ministers in Tehran a day earlier.
It also highlighted the fact that deeper economic ties with China would enable Iran to strengthen its economy and to resist against sanctions imposed by the United States.
The analysis said that getting closer to China is a signal to Washington that Iran would not wait too long for the Biden administration to lift a harsh regime of sanctions imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump nearly three years ago when the US government pulled out of an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Lured by the prospect of cheaper prices, China has already increased its imports of Iranian oil to around 1 million barrels a day, eroding US leverage as it prepares to enter stalled talks with Tehran to revive a nuclear deal,” it said.
After some five years of intensive talks, Iran and China have agreed to a massive economic partnership contract that many believe would benefit the two countries in the long-run.
Under the deal, China would invest over $400 billion in Iran’s energy, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, among others, while Iran in return would ensure a stable supply of crude to Beijing over the period of the deal.
