Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian got a brief, awkward brush-off from Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Tuesday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, according to Iranian state media’s own account of the encounter.
Pezeshkian, who answers to missing “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei, joined Xi, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other regional leaders in Bishkek for the annual SCO gathering, a Central Asian security bloc Moscow and Beijing use to project influence. Iran belongs to the group too, and Tehran has leaned on it to drum up backing against American pressure.
Going into the summit, observers expected Russia and China to use the stage to publicly back Iran amid its standoff with Washington, which has hammered Tehran’s economy through sanctions. Putin and Xi did sit down with Pezeshkian, along with Modi and several Central Asian leaders, but no united front between Beijing and Tehran showed up.
Instead, Iranian state outlets circulated a photo of a visibly unhappy Xi, standing next to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and grabbing at his own throat, in what looked like a hallway ambush by Pezeshkian’s delegation rather than a planned sit-down.
Iranian state media called it a “brief meeting on the sidelines” and gave up nothing about what was actually discussed.
“According to the Iranian presidency, the two presidents met on Tuesday during the summit’s programs and held talks for several minutes,” the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. “No further details were released about the content of their conversation.”
Mehr News, another regime-linked outlet, added almost nothing: “During the meeting, the two presidents discussed the bilateral ties in line with strengthening relations between Tehran and Beijing.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed he was at the summit with Pezeshkian and posted on social media about “talks with Eurasian, Chinese, and South Asian dignitaries” aimed at making Iran’s case against the United States, but he offered no specifics on any single meeting.
China’s own state press has said nothing about the Pezeshkian meeting at all. Xinhua News Agency ran large photos of Xi’s formal meetings with the presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, plus his sit-down with Putin, each staged in front of both nations’ flags — nothing resembling the candid hallway shot the Iranians put out.
Xi left the summit Tuesday for Egypt, and even that departure got more Xinhua coverage than his brush with Pezeshkian did.
The contrast with Modi was stark. The Indian prime minister, an active social media user, posted enthusiastic photos with Pezeshkian signaling interest in expanding trade with Iran.
China Looking Past Iran
China has long counted Iran as an ally and depends on Iranian oil to help meet its energy demand. But Beijing’s clout in the Middle East has slipped over the past two years, partly from its closeness to Iran and the terror networks it backs, including Hamas and Hezbollah. Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have also cut sharply into Iranian oil shipments to China this year. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called for an end to the conflict and demanded Iran stop interfering with global shipping, with no results to show for it.
Xi’s travel schedule suggests he’s building relationships elsewhere in the Middle East, possibly at Iran’s expense. He arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for talks with strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that could expand Chinese business there — and likely touch on how Iran’s actions have hurt Egypt’s economy. Before landing, Xi published an editorial in Egyptian media on closer ties.
“Today, China and Egypt have shared goals and common aspirations in upholding international order, championing fairness and justice, and practicing multilateralism,” Xi wrote. “We need to enhance mutual trust and serve as a model in carrying forward friendship. The friendship between our two countries was forged by the elder generations of our leaders. It is our honor and responsibility to carry forward, develop, and promote this friendship.”
Last week, ahead of the Pezeshkian meeting, Xi hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Beijing — a country Iran has repeatedly bombed in response to American strikes on Iranian terrorists. The two signed multiple trade deals, and Abdullah invited Chinese companies to invest in Jordan.
