Iran's foreign minister in China to pursue partnership deal
Top on the agenda is a controversial, long-term partnership pact that critics fear may effectively push the Islamic Republic into becoming a China "colony."
Iran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, headed to the eastern Chinese city of Tunxi on March 29 to join a summit of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbors.
Apart from China as the host, also in attendance are Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Indonesia. The participants are to discuss the latest in their cooperation amid the shifted political, economic and security structure in Afghanistan, where a lightning-quick Taliban takeover in August overthrew the Western-backed government of former President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
But the Iranian foreign minister's agenda, according to the hard-line Tasnim News Agency, is expected to largely focus on the trajectory of the 25-year China-Iran Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Amir-Abdollahian has told Iran's state television that he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, for a review of where the two sides stand in the deal, which he said is already in fast-paced motion with the "outcomes to be seen in the not-distant future."
