China's Xi to host Iranian president amid tensions with US

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during his visit to China over the next three days, state media reported on Tuesday, amid rising tensions with the United States.

Ahead of his visit, Mr Raisi wrote an editorial in China’s state-controlled People’s Daily in which he said both countries believe that unilateralism and “violent” measures such as the imposition of “unjust” sanctions are the main causes of crises and insecurity in the world.

In the editorial, Mr Raisi described China as an “old friend”, and said Iran’s efforts to strengthen bilateral relations would be unaffected by regional and international situations.

The US on Thursday imposed sanctions on companies it accused of playing a critical role in the production, sale and shipment of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum to buyers in Asia.

The move came as efforts to revive

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal

have stalled and ties between the Islamic Republic and the West are increasingly strained as Iranians keep up anti-government protests.

The US relationship with China has soured over several issues, including trade, Xinjiang, Taiwan, the South China Sea and Hong Kong.

The US said on Monday it still did not know

the origin or purpose of three aerial objects that its military shot down over the weekend,

as Washington and Beijing traded accusations about high-altitude balloons.

China and Iran signed 20 cooperation documents, including in the fields of tourism, international trade, exports, information communication and technology, environment, agriculture, health, cultural heritage and sports, Iranian state TV reported on Tuesday.

Mr Xi and Mr Raisi pledged to forge a stronger alliance when they last met in person on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand in September. REUTERS