DUBAI: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Iran on Friday for a visit that Iranian state media said would see the signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, which are both under US sanctions.

The accord, final details of which are yet to be announced, is expected to include Chinese investments in Iran’s energy and infrastructure sectors.

In 2016, China, Iran’s largest trading partner and long-time ally, agreed to boost bilateral trade by more than 10 times to $600 billion in the next decade.

“The signing of the comprehensive cooperation programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Peoples Republic of China by the foreign ministers of the two countries is another programme of this two-day trip,” state news agency IRNA said.

“This document is a complete roadmap with strategic political and economic clauses covering trade, economic and transportation cooperation ... with a special focus on the private sectors of the two sides,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told state TV.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2021