Analyst Majid Rafizadeh accuses Beijing and Tehran of violating US sanctions

The inaction of the Biden administration increases the Iranian and Chinese threat

  • Biden is accused of complacency with Beijing and Tehran, which weakens the American leadership role.

    EPA

  • The foreign ministers of Iran and China launched a new phase of relations between the two sides.

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Iran seeks in various ways to circumvent the US sanctions imposed on it, by establishing alliances and concluding agreements with countries whose relations are experiencing tension on all levels with the United States, such as China, Russia and North Korea.

According to a United Nations report last year, North Korea and Iran resumed cooperation to develop long-range missiles in 2020.

Relationship Strengthening

Majid Rafiqzadeh, President of the American International Council for the Middle East, said in a report published by the American Gatestone Institute, that Iran's rulers are strengthening their relations with the Chinese Communist Party, in addition to violating US sanctions without facing any reaction from the President's administration. American Joe Biden.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited China on the 15th of this month and met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

During his visit, the Iranian and Chinese regimes announced the start of implementation of the new 25-year partnership agreement between them.

"Mr. Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China, and I have reached an important consensus in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, on a variety of issues ranging from the comprehensive partnership program to the consultations of the Vienna talks," the Iranian foreign minister said.

"In conjunction with the talks in China, we have prepared the basis for declaring that today is the day the implementation of the comprehensive agreement on strategic cooperation between the two countries will begin," he added.

Rafiqzadeh, a member of the Harvard International Review's board of directors, added that the plan that Chinese and Iranian leaders are referring to is linked to a 25-year agreement reached between Tehran and Beijing in March of 2021 and is now in force.

According to the agreement, China will continue to import oil from Iran despite US sanctions.

According to the "Tehran Times" newspaper, the Chinese Foreign Minister, for his part, agreed with the views of his Iranian counterpart, which he expressed in an opinion article published in the Chinese newspaper, "Global Times".

"Wang said the Iranian foreign minister's views point to a promising prospect in Tehran-Beijing relations," the newspaper added.

"The Chinese Foreign Minister affirmed his country's readiness to expand cooperation with Iran in the sectors of finance, energy, banking and culture, despite US sanctions," she added.

The agreement gives China significant rights over Iran's resources and helps Tehran increase its oil and gas production.

The leaked information showed that one of the terms of the agreement stipulates that China will invest nearly $400 billion in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

priority

In return, China will have priority in bidding for any new project in Iran related to these sectors.

China will also be able to pay in any currency of its choice.

Rafiqzadeh added that this partnership will not only help the Iranian regime avoid US sanctions, but will also enable it to access funds, empower its militias and terrorist groups in the region, and help it continue developing its nuclear weapons program.

And when China was finally asked to stop its imports of Iranian oil in accordance with US sanctions, it vehemently refused.

It is likely that Beijing understands that the Biden administration will not take any concrete measures against China or Iran.

Despite the sanctions, however, China is buying a record amount of oil from Iran and Venezuela.

By way of comparison, China's imports of oil from Iran reached their lowest level during the administration of former US President Donald Trump.

America's Challenge

The agreement between China and Iran, which poses a challenge to the United States, also has a military dimension, and the Iranian armed forces conducted a joint naval exercise with China and Russia on the 21st of this month.

Rafiqzadeh says that Iran, which poses a threat to the region and the United States, will also intensify, in light of all possibilities, its pursuit of advanced weapons and nuclear technology from China.

China, for its part, will deploy 5,000 of its security forces on the ground in Iran.

China, as the largest importer of Iranian oil, would also have authority over Iran's islands, free access to oil at a deeply discounted price, and increase its presence and influence in nearly all sectors of Iranian industry, including telecommunications, energy, ports, railways, and banking.

In September 2021, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization agreed to raise Iran's status from observer to full member, despite the International Financial Action Task Force's inclusion of Tehran in its terrorist financing blacklist.

Rafiqzadeh concluded his report by saying that while the military and strategic partnership between China and Iran is strengthening, the real horror is that the Biden administration's failure to take a firm stance against the rulers of Iran and Beijing, as is the case with the situation in Afghanistan and Ukraine, could have dangerous repercussions. They are immeasurable on the national security interests of the United States and its allies, who may feel the need to "take heed" and perhaps look for more reliable protectors, who may not have a serious interest in our interests.

• Iran's rulers are strengthening their relations with the Chinese Communist Party, in addition to violating US sanctions without facing any reaction from the administration of US President Joe Biden.

• The comprehensive agreement on strategic cooperation between China and Iran, which poses a challenge to the United States, has a military dimension, as the Iranian armed forces conducted a joint naval exercise with China and Russia on the 21st of this month.

• China will deploy 5,000 of its security forces on Iranian soil and, as the largest importer of Iranian oil, will also have authority over Iran's islands, free access to oil at a deeply discounted price, and increase its presence and influence in almost all sectors of Iranian industry, including telecommunications Energy, ports, railways and banking.

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