Mideast and Trump front of mind as China, Iran foreign ministers meet in Beijing

Name: Iran launches missile attack on Israel, Netanyahu vows retribution
Uploaded: 2024-12-28T14:00:12.000Z
Duration: 3 min 45 s
Description: Iran launches missile attack on Israel, Netanyahu vows retribution

As Tehran’s proxies take big blows, the two sides find common ground on need for ceasefire in Gaza and help for Syria

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on Saturday. Photo: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Zhao Ziwen

Published: 10:00pm, 28 Dec 2024

With less than a month to go until Donald Trump’s return to office, Beijing has pledged further cooperation with sanctions hit-Tehran on “mutual core interests”.

In talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in the Chinese capital on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also voiced Beijing’s commitment to Tehran’s participation in Beijing-led multilateral frameworks as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Brics.

“The two sides should continue to support each other on issues of mutual core interests, steadily advance practical cooperation, and improve collaboration in the multilateral sphere,” the Chinese foreign ministry quoted Wang as saying.

“We should closely coordinate and cooperate within the framework of the SCO … and we will further strengthen Brics and better safeguard the common interests of the Global South,” he said, referring to a group of emerging economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

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Iran launches missile attack on Israel, Netanyahu vows retribution

The meeting also addressed conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, where Tehran’s proxies, the Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, are main players.