TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has been appointed to oversee the country’s relations with China, according to Iranian media reports published on Sunday.
Tasnim news agency, citing informed sources, reported that Ghalibaf was named as a special representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran for China affairs. Several other Iranian media outlets also carried the report.
According to Tasnim, the appointment was made on the recommendation of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and approved by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
In his new role, Ghalibaf will coordinate various sectors of cooperation and diplomatic relations between Iran and China.
Fars news agency reported that the late security chief Ali Larijani had previously held a similar position before he was killed in US-Israeli strikes on March 17.
Larijani had overseen negotiations with China that ultimately resulted in the signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement between the two countries in 2021.
Since the outbreak of the conflict with Israel and the United States on February 28, Ghalibaf has emerged as a central figure in Iran’s high-level diplomacy, including taking part in a round of talks with the United States in April.
Several senior Iranian officials, including former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, were assassinated during the conflict, which spread across the Middle East before a fragile ceasefire came into effect on April 8.
In recent days, Iran has allowed several Chinese ships to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route that had remained blocked since the war began.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the ships were permitted to transit after what it described as “an agreement on Iran’s strait management protocols.”