China to host Iran's president, discuss nuclear deal

Iran's president will attend a summit in Shanghai with his Chinese and Russian counterparts next month, as the three countries seek to salvage the nuclear deal after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the accord earlier this month.

China, Russia and European powers all signed the 2015 accord and are scrambling to save the pact after Washington announced it would reinstate sanctions on Iran.

China's President Xi Jinping will meet Iran's Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting on 9-10 June in Qingdao, said Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend the summit, he added. 

Wang did not include the nuclear deal in a readout of the summit's formal agenda.

But Beijing is Iran's top trade partner and one of the biggest buyers of its oil. It has signalled it intends to continue its partnership with Tehran despite US sanctions. 

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Chinese firms are expected to ramp up their business activities in Iran in lieu of US firms withdrawing from the country. European companies have also said they would withdraw from Iran for fear of punitive and secondary sanctions. 

Secretary of State John Bolton has previously warned European firms to wind down their operations in Iran "within months". 

Iran is currently an observer member of the SCO, though it has long sought full membership and China supports its application. 

The regional bloc focusing on security and trade also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics and two new members, Pakistan and India.

Russia has previously argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc that accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the world's population.

Rouhani's attendance at the SCO summit follows foreign minister Javad Zarif's multi-country dipomatic tour, including a stop in China, earlier this month to save the deal. 

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