Chinese President Xi Jinping. File.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday congratulated reformist Masoud Pezeshkian for his win in Iran’s presidential runoff election, state media reported.

“I attach great importance to the development of China-Iran relations and am willing to work with the President to lead the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership towards deeper advancement,” state news agency Xinhua reported Xi as saying.

The two countries “have a long history of friendly exchanges, and bilateral relations have maintained healthy and stable development… for over half a century,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

“Faced with complex regional and international situations, China and Iran have always supported each other, worked together and continued to consolidate strategic mutual trust,” he added.

“(This) has not only brought benefits to our two countries’ peoples, but has also made active contributions to promoting regional and world peace and stability,” he said.

China is a close partner of Iran, its largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.

Beijing’s efforts to pull Tehran into its flagship Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure project have been complicated by sanctions.

However, Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, an economic and security initiative backed by Beijing and Moscow, last year.