China, Iran call on Afghanistan to lift restrictions on women

BEIJING (AP) — China and Iran have called on their common neighbor Afghanistan to lift restrictions on women’s work and education.

The call came in a joint statement released Thursday following Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Beijing, during which the two sides reaffirmed close economic and political ties and their opposition to Western standards of human rights and democracy.

Since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have banned women and girls from entering universities and schools beyond the sixth grade and forced them out of elected office and other prominent positions.

“Both sides … called on the Afghan rulers to form an inclusive government in which virtually all ethnic groups and political groups participate, and to repeal all discriminatory measures against women, ethnic minorities and other religions,” the statement said. The US and its NATO allies “should be held accountable for the current situation in Afghanistan.”

The US supported the elected Afghan government in fighting the Taliban, but withdrew due to rising costs and reduced domestic support for the government, which was unable to counter the Taliban’s resurgence.

Notably, the calls for women’s rights are coming from Iran’s hardline Shia Muslim regime, which has been challenged by months of protests over the death of a young woman who was detained by police on charges of clothing violations.

The country’s theocracy has executed at least four people since demonstrations began in September over the death of Mahsa Amini. All of them faced criticism from the international community, fast and closed trials.

Basically, the Sino-Iranian joint statement emphasized strong political and economic ties, a desire for peace and justice in the Middle East, and denuclearization despite Tehran’s alleged drive to produce atomic weapons.

Earlier in a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Raisi expressed support for China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and its claim to a self-governing democratic Taiwan.

The story goes on

China and Iran are portraying themselves, along with Moscow, as a counterbalance to American power and providing tacit and, in Iran’s case, material support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“China supports Iran in defending national sovereignty” and “resisting unilateralism and intimidation,” Xi said in a statement released by Chinese state television on his website.

Xi and Raisi have signed 20 cooperation agreements, including in trade and tourism, the Chinese government said. They complement the 25-year strategic agreement signed in 2021 on cooperation in the development of oil, industrial and other fields.

China is one of the largest buyers of Iranian oil and a major source of investment.

Iran has struggled for years with trade and financial sanctions imposed by Washington and other Western governments. In 2018, the US government cut off Iran’s access to the network connecting global banks.

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