Iranian exports and economy are showing improvement after a 25-year long agreement with China and secret oil export to China.
In the month of August 2021, Iran’s exports surged by 40 percent mainly because of oil exports to China and in January 2022, Iran has seen improvement in exports and economic activities soon after the China-Iran announced the implementation of 25-year accord.
Intermedia media reports indicate that Iran’s bulk of projected oil income is expected to come from China, which remains Iran’s top buyer.
Iran’s exact shipment data for China is unavailable because under sanctions exports are kept secret and the oil is marked as originating from Malaysia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
However, in mid-January 2022, for the first time China made public its first import of Iranian crude oil since December 2020, setting aside US sanctions.
The international market is also swinging in Iran’s favour as oil prices have hit the highest level in more than seven years, due to tight supplies and escalating tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
The news came roughly at the same time as the Raisi administration announced its oil exports had increased by 40 percent compared to the final month of President Hassan Rouhani’s administration in August.
January was also a busy month in terms of Iranian efforts to boost political and economic bilateral ties with China and Russia.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during a trip to Jiangsu, China that a 25-year comprehensive cooperation accord signed in 2020 has entered the implementation stage, although he did not elaborate on what exactly that means.
Meanwhile, Raisi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, where the two leaders backed closer ties, and their officials signed a number of agreements that the Iranian side said would have tangible results in the foreseeable future.
Iranian Economic Minister Ehsan Khandoozi disclosed last week that Russia has agreed to allocate a new line of credit to develop the Sirik power plant in Hormozgan as a result of Raisi’s trip, but he did not disclose details.
The first agreements for developing the power plant were signed after the nuclear deal with world powers was initially clinched in 2015, but the plant has been among several similar energy projects undertaken by Russia and China that remain incomplete.
