China signs 25-year deal with Iran on economy cooperation in a challenge to the US

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (right), attend a meeting, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 27, 2021. Iran and China on Saturday signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement addressing economic issues amid crippling U.S. sanctions on Iran, state TV reported. - AP

BEIJING, March 29 (Bloomberg): China and Iran signed an overarching deal aimed at charting the course of their economic, political and trade relations over the next 25 years.

Beijing plans to invest in Iran while buying oil from the Islamic Republic, further straining its relationship with the U.S. which has already been frayed by China’s imports of covertly-shipped Iranian crude.