Tehran, IRNA – An Iranian expert said that the Iran-China 25-year strategic cooperation program should be implemented as soon as possible, underlining the importance of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian's ongoing visit to China.

The program signed last year is a comprehensive strategic partnership with three dimensions: partnership instead of competition, strategic long-term ties instead of short-term relations, and multilateral ties, Hamed Vafaei told IRNA on Thursday.

He said that President Ebrahim Raisi's administration is expected to quickly operationalize the program which has been delayed due to such developments as US withdrawal from Afghanistan in early days of the President’s taking office.

He evaluated Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s trip to China as highly important due to the current circumstances in the international arena and the region, as well as Iran-China relations.

The 25-year program will remain a useless text on paper unless it leads to detailed agreements and projects, Vafaei added.

He also said that the program would be strategic only when all Iranian entities, ministries and organization slated to work with China have clear operation plan for the next 25 years.

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