Tehran, Iran, Apr. 23
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran's President during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Indonesia discussed the nuclear negotiations between Tehran and P5+1.
"President Hassan Rouhani talked about a range of issues, including the might of China in helping the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1 with his Chinese counterpart on April 23," IRNA reported.
According to the report, Iran and China also discussed terrorism, regional issues such as the Yemen crisis as well as bilateral economic cooperation. The report didn't mention the details of the talks.
However, Reuters reported that Chinese President told Rouhani on Thursday that China would push for a "fair and balanced" nuclear agreement.
"China is willing to continue to maintain communication with all parties concerned, including Iran, to continue to play a constructive role in the negotiations and push for a fair, balanced, mutually beneficial and win-win comprehensive agreement as soon as possible," Xi was quoted as telling Rouhani, according to a statement on the (China) government website.
The deputy head of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce Majid Reza Hariri Told Press TV on Wednesday that the annual balance of trade between the two nations stands at $50 billion, but the sides want to increase this figure to $100 billion. China is Iran's biggest trade partner as well as biggest Iranian crude oil client.
Rouhani's talks with Xi Jinping came while Iran and P5+1 (UK, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China) started the new round of nuclear negotiations April 22.
First round of nuclear talks between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Deputy EU Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmidt started in Vienna.
The talks continued Thursday and it is expected that Iran and the U.S. delegations will hold a meeting on April 23.
The talks are to be held for three days (April 22 to April 25). The meetings are aimed at drafting an agreement to be signed by June 30.
Iran and the world powers reached a framework agreement on April 2, which envisions a final deal by the said deadline.
Edited by CN