Iran, China stress expansion of ties

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and China's Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Yung have held talks on different international issues, stressing the need to develop bilateral ties. In a meeting with the Chinese deputy foreign minister in Tehran on Thursday, Salehi expressed hope that Iran-China relations will further expand in various areas and the two countries will be reliable partners for each other. Pointing to the revolutionary developments in the Middle East, the top Iranian diplomat insisted that the developments in the region will be conducive to the establishment of popular governments. Salehi went on to say that foreign forces must leave Afghanistan without delay and stressed the necessity of cooperation between the regional countries to stabilize and reconstruct the war-ravaged Asian country. For his part, Fu described bilateral relations between Tehran and Beijing as positive, particularly in economic areas, and expressed optimism that the bilateral ties will be further developed through exploiting all the existing capacities. Regarding Iran's nuclear program, he rejected any type of pressure or sanctions against the Islamic Republic and insisted that dialog is the only solution to the issue. China's deputy foreign minister has made an official trip to Iran upon the invitation of the Iranian foreign ministry to organize a joint consultative committee.