Iranian President to Visit China to Participate in SCO Meeting

A senior Iranian official announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to visit Beijing early June to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)’s meeting.

President Ahmadinejad will visit China in June to participate in the 12th summit of the SCO and hold talks with Chinese officials, Head of the presidential office’s International Relations Department Mohammad Reza Forqani said.

He said that the SCO summit is scheduled to be held from June 6 to 7 in Beijing.

Forqani said that participants in the SCO summit would discuss current regional and international developments.

Apart from participating in the summit, the Iranian chief executive will hold talks with his counterparts from participating countries.

President Ahmadinejad will also meet and hold official talks with high-ranking Chinese authorities on June 8.

Ahmadinejad’s visit to China takes on particular significance as China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council and has resisted US demands for sanctions on Iran.

Iran, OPEC’s second-largest producer, exports most of its 2.2 million barrels of oil per day to Asia, home to its four main customers: China, Japan, India and South Korea.

The US Senate unanimously approved on Monday a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.

China has repeatedly urged a negotiated solution to the dispute over Tehran’s atomic activities.