Asia04 September, 20263 min read
Mohseni Ejei Tells Zhang Jun Iran Is Determined to Expand Judicial Ties With China
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Mohseni-Eje'i met Zhang Jun on the BRICS judicial leaders' meeting sidelines in New Delhi. He stated Iran is determined to expand ties with China and deepen legal-judicial cooperation.
Ejei meets Zhang Jun
Iran’s head of the judiciary, Mohseni Ejei, made remarks during a meeting with Zhang Jun, President of the Supreme People’s Court of China, on the sidelines of his visit to New Delhi to attend a BRICS meeting. Mohseni Ejei emphasized the importance of linking judicial and legal cooperation with the expansion of strategic relations and said developing channels of communication in the judicial sphere could provide “a supporting arm” for strengthening cooperation in other strategic areas. He also stressed the need for BRICS member states to exchange legal and judicial expertise, saying drawing on China’s experience while sharing Iran’s own expertise could help establish a strong network of judicial cooperation within the BRICS framework.
In the same meeting, Mohseni Ejei underscored Iran’s “firm determination” to expand relations with China, saying Iran had faced illegal attacks by the United States during the current year but demonstrated strategic resilience and stability through the strong presence of its people and their comprehensive support for the country and its officials. Zhang Jun, for his part, congratulated Mohseni Ejei on his reappointment as head of Iran’s Judiciary and recalled their meeting in China in April last year, saying they had held “deep and constructive discussions” that remained in his memory.
AI and a “new leap”
Mohseni Ejei called for greater exchanges of experience in technological fields, particularly the use of artificial intelligence in judicial affairs, and said China’s scientific and technological capabilities, combined with Iran’s domestic capacities, could create “a new leap” in bilateral cooperation. He also said Iran is determined to make maximum use of available capacities to fully implement bilateral memoranda of understanding, while pointing to fundamental changes in international relations and saying the world is moving toward a new global order with China playing an effective role. Zhang Jun said China had in recent years conducted research into new forms of judicial governance and the development of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in the judicial sector, and he said China was interested in sharing its achievements in these fields with Iran.
WANA News Agency reported that Mohseni-Ejei stated that drawing on China’s experiences and sharing Iran’s own could lead to the creation of a robust communication network across all targeted areas within the BRICS framework. In that same WANA account, Zhang Jun congratulated Mohseni-Ejei on his reappointment and recalled their constructive discussions during their meeting in China in April of the previous year.
Debate over partnership optics
Iran International described a “fleeting encounter” between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and China’s Xi Jinping in Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on Tuesday, noting there was no dedicated bilateral meeting. The outlet said Iranian critics seized on the absence of a bilateral meeting as evidence of Beijing’s reluctance to embrace Tehran more closely, and it quoted Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh saying, “Xi's cold reception of Pezeshkian was this Eastern vendor's message to America amid the war,”. Iran International also quoted Davoud Heshmati arguing that the bilateral meeting was “rejected by the Chinese side,” and it quoted Conservative commentator Mostafa Najafi calling the encounter “a serious warning and negative signal in Iran-China relations,”.
The same report said the unease was amplified by a disputed claim from Hossein Marashi, secretary-general of the centrist Executives of Construction Party, that China had set conditions for implementing parts of a 25-year cooperation agreement and for a planned visit to Beijing by parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf. It added that Ghalibaf’s office rejected the attribution of such conditions to China and urged media outlets to refrain from publishing claims that could “affect Iran’s national interests and its foreign relations.”