TEHRAN: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Monday that cooperation with China protects “international stability”, as he congratulated Xi Jinping for securing a third term as the country’s leader.

Iran and China have strong economic relations especially in the fields of oil and energy, transit, agriculture, trade and investment.

Raisi and Xi met for the first time last month during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Uzbekistan where the Iranian president called for expansion of ties.

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“Cooperation within the framework of multilateral institutions and organisations, in addition to securing the interests of both countries, helps to protect international stability and peace,” Raisi said, according to a presidency statement.

China’s ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year period on Sunday, cementing the 69-year-old’s position as the most powerful leader since the party’s founder Mao Zedong.

Both countries signed in 2021 a 25-year “strategic cooperation pact” said to include “political, strategic and economic” components.

Raisi said the partnership provides a “model of all-round expansion of relations based on interests and mutual respect”.