After the government of Ebrahim Raisi announced, through the foreign and economy ministers, the commencement of the 25-year "cooperation agreement" between Tehran and Beijing—thus sparking widespread criticism in Iran—Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf surprised everyone by stating that the country "has not signed any agreement," generating astonishment among political circles in the country.
When a representative from the cities of Bafq and Mehriz requested clarifications from Ebrahim Raisi's government regarding the Iranian-Chinese agreement in a public session of parliament on Wednesday, Qalibaf responded: "We have not signed the agreement yet." Qalibaf also claimed: "The agreement between Iran and China has not been signed legally; any agreement must be ratified by parliament," yet he did not explain how parliament plans to ratify an agreement that the government has already announced it is executing.
Is Qalibaf joking with us?
The Persian-language site Eslahats News commented, addressing the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, saying, "Is Qalibaf joking with us? This spring, a memorandum of understanding for 25 years of cooperation in various economic, security, and other fields was signed between Iran and China, and in mid-January, Amir Hossein Abdullahian, Qalibaf’s close friend and the current foreign minister, announced the start of the execution phase!"
It is noted that following his meeting with his Chinese counterpart on January 14 of this year, the Iranian foreign minister announced: "We have agreed to announce the commencement of the implementation of the comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement between Iran and China... and concurrently with discussions in China, we announced today the date to start executing the agreement."
The day after that, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Ehsan Khandozi, stated, "Contracts related to energy, industry, mining, technology, research, and others signed with China will come into effect soon."
On January 20, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, in an interview with China's Xinhua news agency regarding the agreement, said: "Both Iran and China are currently heading towards a new horizon of cooperation and strategic partnership, and the signing of the agreement marks an important moment and a turning point.
Duration of 25 Years
It should be noted that Iran and China signed a 25-year commercial and strategic cooperation agreement at the end of March 2021 during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Tehran. Before the signing of the agreement, the Chinese foreign minister described it as a comprehensive roadmap, stating that the project stemmed from Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Tehran in January 2016, when he and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani decided to bolster relations between the two countries.
