Iran is asking China to come in and help resolve the unrest in the Middle East along with offering more opportunities for Chinese businesses once the sanctions against the nation are lifted under the agreement with the United States and six other world powers.
China has been pushing the United States to complete the deal with Iran and lift the sanctions that have been economically hampering Iran.
“China and Iran find mutual benefits in many areas,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said. “I agreed with [Chinese Foreign] Minister Wang Yi that we share similar views on regional issues, which should be solved in a political way. We would like to cooperate with China on issues in Yemen, Syria and the Middle East, seeking a political solution.”
China has long been opposed to the sanctions placed on Iran by the United States and European nations. Wang told reporters he looks forward to the deal’s implementation because of the benefit to Chinese businesses and added he believes the two nations can work together for peace in their regions.
“We both agree that the unrest in West Asia and North Africa regions is not sustainable, it should be solved in a political way and we should seek a solution that can address the concerns of different parties,” Wang said.
U.S. officials are looking at imposing sanctions against Russia and China for cyberattacks on the government’s servers.
The officials, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said no final decision has been made because the sanctions could cause strain in relations between the countries. The Chinese president is scheduled to visit the U.S. this month.
Chinese and Russian hackers have accessed secure databases to steal information about military members and intelligence personnel and Russian hackers monitored the emails of state department officials for several months last fall.
Chinese hackers are believed to have caused the breach at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) earlier this year.
“Frustration has been growing for years about cyber economic espionage and then the scale of the OPM attack was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said a former senior administration official.
Chinese officials responded to the anonymous claims by saying they are firmly against cybercrime.
“The Chinese government staunchly upholds cyber security, firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber attacks in accordance with law,” Chinese Embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan said in a statement.
Zhu added he doesn’t want U.S. officials to engage in “groundless speculation.”
Iran’s unwillingness to stop its race to create nuclear weapons has resulted in the European Union leveling more sanctions against the nation.
EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg passed measures strengthening restrictions against banks, trade and gas exports. The actions were taken in an attempt to hamper the ways Iran has earned revenues for their nuclear program. Continue reading →
