China's President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, called on Thursday for the lifting of sanctions on Iran as an integral part of a stalled international agreement on its nuclear programme.
Xi also accepted an invitation from Raisi to visit Iran and would do so at his convenience, the two leaders said in a joint statement on the last day of a three-day state visit to China by Raisi. Xi last visited Iran in 2016 as part of a tour of the Middle East.
The leaders in their statement called for the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which Iran agreed with several countries, including the United States, to curb its nuclear programme in return for economic sanctions relief.
In 2018, then U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
President Joe Biden said in 2021 that the United States would return to the deal if Iran moved back into compliance but talks have stalled.
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