TEHRAN, April 21: Chinese President Jiang Zemin, winding up a visit to Iran, has said his country opposes the US military presence in Central Asia and the Middle East.

“Beijing’s policy is against strategies of force and the US military presence in Central Asia and the Middle East region,” Jiang said after talks with former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Saturday.

Turning to the Middle East, he accused Israel of “not having implemented UN resolutions” calling for its withdrawal from Palestinian territories and criticized “US support for Israel’s policies”, Tehran Radio reported.

“One of the primary issues for China is to protect developing countries from the pretensions of the United States,” he said, while calling for “a lasting peace in Afghanistan which has been torn by war”.

Jiang, who arrived in Iran on Thursday on the second visit by a Chinese head of state to the country since its 1979 revolution, hoped the mission would “open a new chapter in bilateral relations to the benefit of regional and international peace and stability”.

In his talks with President Khatami, the two leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and weapons of mass destruction, the Iranian president’s office said in a statement.

On the Middle East situation, Khatami urged China to use its seat on the UN Security Council to “play a greater role in putting an end to the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people”, the statement said.

Following their meeting, Khatami and Jiang attended the signing of six accords on bilateral cooperation.

The deals sealed cooperation between Iran and China in the fields of hydrocarbon, trade, transport, information technology, cultural exchanges and education.

One of China’s main oil suppliers, Iran was also a top buyer of Chinese arms during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq and now hopes to find a place on the huge Chinese market for its natural gas.—AFP