TEHRAN (Iran News) –China’s Consulate Has Nothing to Do With Any Certain Trade. Iran’s former ambassador to China says Beijing’s decision to open its consulate in Bandar Abbas has nothing to do with any certain trade between the two countries and it is aimed at giving consular services to Chinese nationals in Iran who are mostly living in southeastern Iran.
Speaking to ILNA, Mohammad Hossein Malaek said that according to the Vienna Convention which is on the diplomatic ties, countries are entitled to have equivalent offices in other countries, it means if one country opens its embassy in another country, the other side can have its own embassy or consulate. He noted that the number of Iran’s consulates in China is three and China can have also three consulates in Iran according to the Vienna Convention.
He went on to say that since the ties between the two countries have grown and Iran has defined many projects for the Chinese and they are in Iran, the number of Chinese national in Iran is around 6,000 and in case of facing problems they may need consular services and probably China’s embassy in Tehran has not been enough for serving them, they have asked for the launch of a consulate in Bandar Abbas.
Malaek added that Bandar Abbas is the most important hub for marine traverses and most of Iran or China-bound vessels harbor in Bandar Abbas and therefore the consulate has been decided to be set up in this port city. He reiterated that the Chinese have predicted they can have bigger share in developing Makran and for this reason several Chinese companies are to be deployed there, and they are also active in Chahbahar and for this reason Bandar Abbas has been chosen for the consulate.
Meanwhile Head of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid Reza Hariri said that the consulate does not go through commercial issues and it is focused on the consular affairs, adding that Iran has three consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong while China has only embassy in Iran and therefore it is natural for the country to set up consulate in any city of Iran based on the mutual agreement.
He said Iran has set up its consulates in China for over 20 years and it is because of the number of Iranians in China and now China has decide to set up consulate due to the rise in the number of its nationals in Iran which are busy in southeastern cities like Kerman, Sirjan, Rafsanjan and Bandar Abbas.
Hariri went on to say that Iran and China reached agreements during China President’s visit to Tehran in 2016 and one of the agreements was to launch industrial parks in Iran and especially joint industrial parks in Jask and southeastern areas of Iran like Makran.
He said since Iran and China are to boost their cooperation based on their 25-year cooperation document, the Chinese government has decided to launch the consulate for serving their nationals which will increase because of the future projects which will be carried out in southeastern Iran.
