Iran using China to get around US sanctions

Noura Bendari

Iran and China signed on March 27 a number of cooperation agreements in many fields, apparently in an attempt by the Iranian regime to reduce the effects of the US sanctions imposed on it since May 2018.

The sanctions have opened the door for economic deterioration in Iran and suffering for the Iranian people.

Iranian hopes

Iranian government officials have expressed hopes that the agreements their country signed with China would contribute to reducing the negative effects of the US sanctions on Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the agreements his government signed with China aim at moving ahead with the implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal with western powers.

They also aim to commit European countries to honor their pledges to Iran within the nuclear deal, Rouhani said.

An Iranian official said, meanwhile, that the agreements signed by his country and China are tantamount to a roadmap for a long-term relationship between Tehran and Beijing.

Member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen Mohamed al-Houthi said the agreements would break the American siege on Iran.

In January 2016, Iran and China signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement covering 25 years.

The Iranian opposition rejected the agreement, noting that it would give China the right to control the Iranian market and Iranian companies.

The Iranian opposition also rejects the latest agreements with China. The Iranian regime signed the agreement now in reaction to the rejection by the administration of US President Joe Biden to return to the nuclear deal with Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is also apparently trying to find a way out of the US sanctions on his country before he leaves the office of president soon.