On November 13, 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met at the Presidential Palace in Tehran with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

During the meeting, Yang said the friendship between China and Iran enjoys a time-honored history and recent years have witnessed new progress made in friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. China attaches importance to ties with Iran and is ready to push forward the long-term, stable development of bilateral ties for the benefit of both peoples based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, he added.

Ahmadinejad said Iran is committed to developing long-term friendly, cooperative ties with China and hopes to strengthen bilateral exchanges and conduct cooperation in all areas.

With regard to the Iranian nuclear issue, Yang said China believes that Iran has the rights to peacefully use nuclear power and appreciates Iran's repeated declaration of no intention to develop nuclear weapons and its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "China stands for the maintenance of the international non-proliferation system and supports a peaceful solution to Iran's nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations," Yang said. He noted that China hopes that Iran will strengthen its cooperation with the IAEA and make progress in its contact with the European Union (EU). China also hopes that all parties concerned will show flexibility and make efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, Yang said.

For his part, Ahmadinejad said that Iran is making good cooperation with the IAEA and is willing to maintain active contacts with the EU. Iran is also ready to continue its communication with China and other sides over its nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad said.

Yang Jiechi arrived in Tehran on November 13 for a visit to Iran. On the same day, the Chinese foreign minister also met his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, exchanging views on Sino-Iranian relations as well as regional and international issues of common concern.