Xi pledges to boost Iran ties in talks with Pezeshkian

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to increase ties with Iran during talks with his counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Russia, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Wednesday.

The meeting between the two on the sidelines of a BRICS summit was their first since Pezeshkian was elected president following the death of his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash.

Xi pledged that “no matter how the international and regional situation changes, China will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran,” Xinhua said.

The promise of continued support comes as Middle East tensions soar over Israel’s ongoing war with Iran-backed militants in Gaza and Lebanon, and as the world awaits an Israeli response to Tehran’s latest missile attack.

At a BRICS plenary session on Wednesday, Pezeshkian urged members of the grouping to “use all their collective and individual capacities to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon.”

Xi meanwhile repeated his call for a ceasefire, saying: “We need to… stop the killing and work tirelessly for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue.”

He told Pezeshkian in their meeting that an “early ceasefire and end of war in Gaza are the key to easing regional tensions,” Xinhua said.

China supports Iran “in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and national dignity, steadily advancing its own economic and social development,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

The pledge echoed similar comments by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi after a meeting last month with Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

China is a close partner of Iran, its largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.

Both countries have faced Western pressure in the form of sanctions, most recently because of their stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.