Xi meets Iranian president

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.

Pezeshkian is in China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, as well as commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

China has always prioritized the development of its relations with Iran in its Middle East diplomacy, Xi said, expressing China's willingness to carry forward bilateral traditional friendship, deepen mutual trust, and enhance cooperation in trade, investment, clean energy, connectivity, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, so as to promote the steady and sustained advancement of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.

Noting that China has put forward the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), Xi said that the country stands ready to work with Iran and the rest of the international community to build a fairer and more equitable global governance system and jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity.

China values Iran's repeatedly reaffirmed commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, respects its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity, and in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests through political negotiations, Xi said.

China will continue to uphold fairness and justice, work for a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue that accommodates the reasonable concerns of all parties, and make relentless efforts to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, Xi added.

Pezeshkian said that Iran is willing to strengthen cooperation with China under the SCO framework, adding that Iran fully supports the GGI proposed by President Xi, which is of great significance for promoting the development of the international order toward a fairer and more equitable direction.

Iran stands ready to strengthen coordination with China, jointly oppose unilateralism and power politics, safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East, and promote the implementation of the GGI, Pezeshkian added.