Wang: Parties to nuclear deal must keep promises

Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif after a joint news conference in Beijing on Monday.Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily

Foreign ministers of China and Iran agree on ways to boost cooperation

It's the responsibility of all parties to the Iran nuclear deal to fully implement the agreement, and its implementation should not be affected by changes in the parties' domestic situations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.

Wang spoke during a news conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Beijing. Wang said all parties should keep promises they made as part of the deal, which was reached after "a decade of arduous negotiation".

The meeting between Wang and Zarif is the first of the annual meetings of their foreign ministers agreed upon by the countries' leaders.

In July 2015, six countries including China reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, which agreed to curb its nuclear programs in return for the lifting of sanctions. The UN Security Council later endorsed the deal.

Zarif, in China for a two-day visit that started Monday, said China played a "very important role" in reaching the deal.

He also said all the participants have a duty to implement the deal and that Iran would not allow any unilateral measures that violate it.

The visit came after both chambers of the United States Congress voted to renew the Iran Sanctions Act, which is set to expire on Dec 31. The passage is only effective if signed by the president. US president-elect Donald Trump, however, had lashed out against the deal during the election campaign. He takes office on Jan 20.

On Monday, Wang said he hopes the leaders of China and Iran continue their close communication, adding that China greatly values its cooperation with Iran, an important country along Belt and Road Initiative routes.

China hopes to cooperate more with Iran in fields including trade, energy and infrastructure construction, and hopes that the two countries will implement key production capacity cooperation projects as soon as possible, Wang said.

Zarif said on Monday that his country and China are "highly complementary partners" in implementing the initiative.

Zarif said that in his meeting with Wang, they held discussions on strengthening cooperation in such fields as energy, transportation, security and counterterrorism.

Niu Xinchun, an expert in Middle East studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said normal business ties between China and Iran will continue to develop despite US moves on sanctions.

Niu said Iran is a "significant" player in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Also, China and Iran have a lot in common in their national strategies, as Iran has been promoting domestic plans concerning fields such as energy development and infrastructure construction, Niu added.

Chu Yi contributed to this story.