TEHRAN, April 27 -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with the visiting Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe in Tehran on Wednesday.
Ebrahim Raisi said that Iran and China share weal and woe and hold similar stances and support each other in international affairs. Iran opposes unilateralism, hegemonism and external interference and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests. Iran thanks for China's support and assistance over the years in its difficult period and hopes that the two sides will further expand cooperation areas and strengthen all-round cooperation including in the military field.
General Wei Fenghe said that both China and Iran are ancient civilizations and their traditional friendship is getting stronger with the passing of time. Since last year, President Xi Jinping and President Ebrahim Raisi have exchanged phone calls and letters, jointly led the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership to make new progress.
General Wei pointed out that this visit is an important one against the backdrop of the current turbulent international situation. It demonstrates the importance of China-Iran relations and embodies the mutual firm support and common progress. China firmly supports Iran in safeguarding state sovereignty and national dignity, and stands ready to work with Iran to cope with various risks and challenges, safeguard the common interests of both sides and jointly safeguard regional and world peace and stability.
General Wei said that the military-to-military cooperation between China and Iran has been expanding in recent years, and the Chinese military is willing to maintain strategic communication, make good use of cooperation mechanism and promote practical cooperation with the Iranian side, so as to push the development of military-to-military relations to a higher level.
On the same day, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri also met with General Wei Fenghe, and Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani held a welcome ceremony for Wei Fenghe and held a formal talk with him. During the talks and meetings, the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the international and regional security situation, the Iranian nuclear issue and the situation in Ukraine, and also reached a number of consensus on strengthening strategic communication at the top level of the two militaries and deepening practical cooperation in such areas as exchanges between services and arms, joint exercises and training and personnel training.
