TEHRAN – Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh arrived in China’s Qingdao on Wednesday and attended the Shanghai Cooperation Agency (SCO) Defense Ministers’ Meeting.
He received a warm welcome from Chinese officials upon his arrival at the airport. The high-level SCO summit took place over two days on Wednesday and Thursday. China’s Minister of Defense Dong Jun was chaired and featured the best defense personnel from across the region.
During his visit, Nasirzadeh met with senior Chinese military officials to discuss bilateral development. There is little detail on the context of the consultation, but he was expected to nurture the recent Iran-Israel war that lasted 12 days.
Iranian military officials also held separate meetings with counterparts from other participating countries. In a meeting with Pakistan’s Defense Minister Kawaja Muhammad Asif, the two strongly condemned Israel’s attacks on Iranian soil, starting on June 13th, bringing at least 627 martials.
In his speech, Pakistan’s Defense Minister also reaffirmed his country’s unwavering commitment to the principles and objectives of the SCO, coordinated collective security, counter-terrorism efforts, and emphasized the importance of strengthening regional ties. In this regard, he sought a peaceful reconciliation of the conflict through dialogue, mediation and preventive diplomacy.
Pakistan was one of the countries that explicitly condemned Israel’s war and pledged support for the Iranian state. The war halted on June 24th after the US sent a proposal to Iran through Qatar.