China to host Iranian President Hassan Rohani next month on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, the foreign ministry said Monday as the other major powers continue their desperate efforts to salvage the nuclear deal. of the Islamic Republic after the withdrawal of the United States from it.
Rohani will pay an official visit to China and take part in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Foreign Ministry said. He did not specify the date. However, the summit is scheduled for the second weekend of June (9th-10th) in Qingdao.
Iran still has observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, although Tehran has long sought to become a full member. Russia has argued that with sanctions on Iran lifted, the country could eventually become a member of the Organization, which includes four former Soviet republics, in addition to Russia and China, Pakistan and India.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCC), the agreement signed between the six major powers and Iran in 2015, called for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran in exchange for imposing restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, which was considered to be extended the time it would take for the Islamic Republic to acquire nuclear weapons, if it sought to do so.
Since US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal earlier this month, European countries have been working to ensure that Iran continues to enjoy economic benefits that will persuade its government to continue to adhere to the CIS. China strongly supports the agreement, after all, it is among the countries that signed it.