Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday appeared to be batting for a new world order centred in Asia, saying that his country and China together have the potential to reshape the regional as well as the global power equation.
“Iran and China are two countries with ancient civilizations on the two sides of Asia that have the power to create a transformation in the region and the world,” Khamenei posted on X (formerly Twitter), adding, “Implementing all the various dimensions of the strategic partnership agreement will help to pave the way for this”.
Khamenei’s statement came against the backdrop of the 25th edition of the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit being held in China’s Tianjin, where Iran is also going to take part and is expected to discuss geopolitical issues, bilateral relations, and defence cooperation, among others, with the host country and other member nations.
Khamenei’s apparent call for a shift in the global power hub assumes greater significance as major SCO members like China, India, and Russia are likely to majorly deliberate upon the US tariff offence and further sanctions announced by Trump on countries doing trade with Moscow.
Notably, Trump has announced a whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, partly because of its continued Russian crude imports, a move targeted at isolating Moscow economically.
Washington also announced a similar move against Tehran.
On May 1, Trump announced that he would impose secondary sanctions on any country or entity purchasing Iranian oil or petrochemical products. These measures bar those entities from doing business with the US, intensifying economic pressure on Iran by targeting its export markets.
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