
China’s President Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi have called for the lifting of sanctions on Iran, as a three-day “fruitful” trip to China by the Iranian leader drew to a close.
Iran agreed with major world powers in 2015 to rein in its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing sanctions, but then-President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled the United States out of the deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – and reinstated the economic measures.