China, Iran Nearing Trade, Military Partnership Despite US Objections: NYT

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China, Iran nearing trade, military partnership despite US objections: NYT

NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2020 ) :Iran and China are in the process of forging a lucrative economic and security partnership that would undercut the United States' attempts to isolate the Iranian government because of its alleged nuclear and military ambitions, according to a leading American newspaper.

The "sweeping" partnership, detailed in a "quietly drafted" 18-page proposed agreement, would clear the way for billions of Dollars of China's investments in Iranian energy and other sectors, and vastly expand it's presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The newspaper said it had obtained a copy of the agreement on Tehran-Beijing partnership, which is labeled "final version" and dated June, 2020.

In exchange, the Times, citing an unnamed Iranian official and an oil trader, said that China would receive a "regular and heavily discounted" supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years.

"The document also describes deepening military cooperation, potentially giving China a foothold in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades," according to the document which also calls for joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing all to fight "the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes." The partnership first proposed by China's leader, Xi Jinping, during a visit to Iran in 2016 was approved by President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet in June, Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said last week.

In Beijing, the newspaper noted that the terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, saying it is not clear whether President Xi's government has signed off or, if it has, when it might announce it.

"If put into effect as detailed, the partnership would create new and potentially dangerous flash points in the deteriorating relationship between China and the United States," the Times said, noting that it represents a major blow to the Trump administration's aggressive policy toward Iran since abandoning the nuclear deal reached in 2015 by President Barack Obama and the leaders of six other nations after two years of grueling negotiations.

Iran has been one of the world's largest oil producers, but its exports, Tehran's largest source of revenue, have plunged since the Trump administration began imposing sanctions in 2018; China gets about 75 percent of its oil from abroad and is the world's largest importer, at more than 10 million barrels a day last year. "At a time when the United States is reeling from recession and the coronavirus, and increasingly isolated internationally, Beijing senses American weakness," the paper said.

"Two ancient Asian cultures, two partners in the sectors of trade, economy, politics, culture and security with a similar outlook and many mutual bilateral and multilateral interests will consider one another strategic partners," the document says in its opening sentence.

The Chinese investments in Iran, which two people who have been briefed on the deal said would total $400 billion over 25 years, could trigger still more punitive actions against Chinese companies, which have already been targeted by the administration in recent months, the Times said.