Iran, China to expand nuclear cooperation: Ambassador

Tehran’s ambassador to Beijing says Iran and China are set to expand their cooperation in the area of peaceful nuclear energy within the framework of the 2015 multinational nuclear agreement.

Ali Asqar Khaji made the remarks at the Seminar on China-Iran Civil Nuclear Cooperation under the Join Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name of the nuclear deal, to which Beijing is a signatory.

The Iranian diplomat further praised Beijing’s role in the conclusion of the accord, criticizing the stance of the US under President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw Washington from the JCPOA.

Khaji also hailed China’s support for the JCPOA amid US threats to kill the international document as well as its active role in implementing the deal.

Commenting on economic cooperation between the two sides, Khaji said bilateral trade ties reached 37 billion dollars last year, up by over 20 percent.

Both countries, he said, face common threats, share close positions on many regional and international issues, and have invariably supported one another.

Tehran-Beijing nuclear cooperation has seen China’s National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) advising the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in redesigning and modernizing the Khondab heavy water reactor in the west-central Iranian city of Arak.

The two sides have also discussed cooperation on the construction of 100-megawatt power plants in Iran.

The conference was also attended by AEOI’s Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, Vice Chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA), Yiren Wang, Director-General of the Arms Control Department of China’s Foreign Ministry, and Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)’s Division for Asia and the Pacific, Najat Mokhtar.