Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has “seriously demanded compensation” for his country over last week's meetings between Arab leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh.
In a meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua in Tehran on Tuesday, Raisi said some of the positions raised during Xi's meetings with leaders from around the region “caused dissatisfaction and complaints of the nation and the government”.
The statement from the Iranian presidential office did not give details of what compensation may be sought. Nor did it refer to Friday's declaration by China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is known to have angered Tehran.
Iran's “strong dissatisfaction” over the joint statement was made clear on Saturday, at a meeting between China's ambassador to Tehran Chang Hua and the Iranian foreign minister's deputy for Asia-Pacific affairs.
At their summit, Xi and the Arab leaders agreed to make sure that Iran's nuclear programme was peaceful, and also that GCC member United Arab Emirates should resolve its territorial dispute with Iran – over strategic islands in the Strait of Hormuz – by negotiation.
Iran took control of the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs in 1971, before the governing Gulf sheikdoms gained independence from Britain to form the UAE with other sheikdoms.
Tehran has maintained that its sovereign claim over the three islands is non-negotiable, while the UAE has said Iran's control of the islands violates international law.
On Sunday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Chang was told Iran considered “any claim to these islands as a destabilising factor and interference in its internal affairs and its territory, and strongly condemns it”.
According to Kanaani, Chang said Xi visited Riyadh “to contribute to peace and stability in the region and benefit from dialogue as a tool to resolve problems”.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua did not mention the Xi-GCC statement in its report of Hu's meeting with Raisi.
According to Xinhua, Hu said China firmly supported Iranian efforts to fend off foreign interference and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity – a statement often used by Chinese leaders when meeting foreign counterparts.
The diplomatic row shows how difficult it is for China to navigate the region's geopolitics and deep-rooted rivalries as it tries to extend its footprint in the Middle East.
Iran's public display of disapproval will not cost its ties with China – also its most important economic partner, said Jonathan Fulton, a non-resident senior fellow for the Middle East programme at the Atlantic Council think tank. Iran also has few other allies beyond Russia and Syria, he said.
“I've always been a little sceptical of how the China-Iran relationship is portrayed, because I think China gets a lot more out of its relationships with the GCC countries than it does with Iran. And that's across any number of important sectors, whether it's financial, economic, energy, political capital, whatever.”
Saudi Arabia alone supplies 18 per cent of China's crude oil purchases, according to Chinese customs data, making it the country's top petroleum supplier.
Iran has been selling cheap oil to compete with Saudi and Russian crude, but only accounts for a much smaller portion of oil imports to China, which regards a ready supply of energy as a core tenet of its national security strategy.
Mega infrastructure networks – such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – ensure shipments from the Gulf arrive in China quicker and cheaper.
But Fulton said China did not want to alienate Iran, which Beijing has always regarded as an Asian power and a global middle power that could be a useful partner, if not for its instability.
Fan Hongda, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University's Middle East Studies Institute, said China had been trying to strike a balance in the region, but it needed to be clear on the core interests of each country there.
“Objectively speaking, China's image in the eyes of Iranian people is not ideal. This incident will further damage China's image in Iran, but fortunately, there is enough room for cooperation, and hopefully China and Iran can put this episode behind them.”
