Sunday, 28 March 2021_Major American papers and news outlets have warned about decline in the United States’ power and sphere of influence--particularly its failure to isolate Iran and China-- as they covered a historic agreement signed between Tehran and Beijing.
The comprehensive strategic partnership agreement was inked by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Tehran on Saturday.
The deal served to officially document the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that had been announced during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tehran in 2016. It sets the outlines of the historic allies’ cooperation in political, cultural, security, defense, regional, and international domains for the next 25 years.
The Wall Street Journal said the emergence of the deal marked the two sides’ “defiance of US attempts to isolate Iran and advancing Tehran’s longstanding efforts to deepen diplomatic ties outside Western powers.”
The Bloomberg news agency wrote, “The alliance between Beijing and Tehran is a challenge to US President Joe Biden’s administration as it sets about trying to rally allies against China, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said is the world’s ‘greatest geopolitical test.’”
It also noted that “Iran’s closer integration with China may help shore up its economy against the impact of the US penalties,” referring to Washington’s illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
The New York Times also called the pact a “sweeping” agreement, noting its impact on the Sino-Iranian economic and security cooperation.
“The deal could deepen China’s influence in the Middle East and undercut American efforts to keep Iran isolated,” the daily wrote. The Chinese foreign minister’s visit, it added, “reflected China’s growing ambition to play a larger role in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades.”
Tweeting after the deal was inked, China’s Ambassador to Tehran Chang Hua called Iran and China “comprehensive strategic partners,” hailing how the Chinese top diplomat’s visit had culminated in “a complete success” and asserting that the countries’ ties were based on “friendship and cooperation.”
Also reacting to the news, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council said the agreement marked “the US’s political defeat” and frustration of Washington’s sanctions, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen network reported.
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