74 Iranian political and civil activists: Agreement between Iran and China "is a threat to global peace and stability"

74 political and civil activists from inside and outside the country declared in an open letter to the leaders of several world countries and the Secretary-General of the United Nations that the agreement between Iran and China "is a threat to global peace and stability."

In this letter, which was addressed to the leaders of the United States, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Iran and China were described as "totalitarian" regimes and the agreement between the two countries was assessed as "a major step for the Chinese communist government."

According to these activists, "Iran, as a regional hub for the New Silk Road initiative, gives China extraordinary access to presence in the region."

The authors of the letter stated that “there is high-level military cooperation between the two regimes,” that “China and Iran are working on a major arms deal,” and that “we have once again reached a point of confrontation between democratic nations and totalitarian regimes that want to change the world order.”

On July 2, the government delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran approved the draft of the "25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Plan for Iran and China," and Hassan Rouhani instructed his government's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to conduct final negotiations with the Chinese side and have the plan signed by both parties.

Iran's foreign minister traveled to Beijing this summer to hold talks with Chinese parties to finalize the agreement. Hassan Rouhani's government has expressed hope that the agreement will be signed before the end of his term in office next summer.

Iranian political and civil activists inside and outside the country have called this agreement in their letter as an "ominous alliance between communism and political Islam," which, they said, "will have many disastrous consequences for the Iranian people and the international community."

According to the signatories, one of the consequences of this agreement will be “a significant increase in the influence of China and the Islamic Republic in the region,” and “by doing so, the two regimes will increase support for terrorist organizations in line with their geopolitical ambitions to control key strategic locations.”

These activists have concluded that for this reason, "this dangerous alliance will pose a significant strategic threat to world peace and stability."

The letter, declaring that "the Iranian people have repeatedly shown that they are true allies of the free world," calls on the leaders of the United States, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the UN Secretary-General to "join an international coalition to support the will of the Iranian people who seek a transition away from violence and toward democracy within the framework of the rule of law."

Among the signatories of this letter are Zaratosht Ahmadi-Ragheb, Giti Pourfazel, Kourosh Zaeem, Fatemeh Sepehri, Mohammad Nourizad, Ayatollah Masoumi Tehrani, and Heshmatollah Tabarzadi inside the country, and Mary Apik, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Dariush Eqbali, Parviz Sayyad, Abdolsattar Doshuki, Ali Akbar Omidmehr, and Sam Rajabi outside the country.

No official information has been released about the 25-year cooperation document between Iran and China, but it has been heavily criticized by critics and opponents of the Islamic Republic. Some critics, including the U.S. State Department, have compared the proposed agreement to the Treaty of Turkmenchay between Iran and Tsarist Russia, under which Iran ceded control of parts of its territory in the South Caucasus to Russia.

Iranian officials have dismissed these criticisms as baseless and have promised to make the text of the agreement public once it is finalized.

Source: Radio Farda