In response, Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, prompting Riyadh to sever relations.
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He also said that efforts continue to identify and apprehend more suspects, and that investigations continue regarding those already in custody.
Iran’s relations with Saudi Arabia, as well as its allies have severely deteriorated recently after the kingdom’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, on January 2.
A Xinhua map shows the Chinese plans for the Silk Road run through Central China to the northern Xinjiang from where it travels through Central Asia entering Kazakhstan and onto Iraq, Iran, Syria and then Istanbul in Turkey from where it runs across Europe cutting across Germany, Netherlands and Italy.
In November, Islamic State said it had killed a Chinese citizen it had taken hostage in the Middle East.
During the visit, the Premier and the Army Chief will hold meetings with the Saudi and Iranian leadership and discuss regional and worldwide issues with particularly the escalations between Riyadh and Tehran. Saudi Arabia, a conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy, sees revolutionary Iran as the paramount threat to the Middle East’s stability, because of its support for Shi’ite militias that Riyadh says have inflamed sectarian violence and undermined Arab governments. He pointed out that under the low oil demand and falling prices China imported almost 50 million tons of crude oil in 2014 and imported about 46 million tons of crude oil in the first 11 months of 2015 with an increase of two percent from Saudi Arabia. But the Vermont senator isn’t doing himself any favors when he consistently argues for a leading state sponsor of terrorism to team up with its mortal adversary to fight ISIS, an extremist group which Iran’s own actions are empowering.
Experts predict that after the dust settles following implementation of the Iran deal, Obama will arrange a visit to the Arabian peninsula to mollify sceptical Saudi and Emirati leaders. Iran is looking forward to a trade and investment boom as sanctions are lifted; it has big non-oil sectors such as agriculture and auto manufacturing that the Saudis lack.
“If there is a war confronting Iran and Saudi Arabia, oil could overnight go to above $250, but decline [back] down to the $100 level”, said Askari.
Khaji said Iran had set up an inter-departmental commission for the One Belt, One Road development strategy, which included representatives from government departments and the business sector.
Benyan has visited China many times on business. Drastic parties consider that Iran has been able to accomplish several achievements over the past decades, and thus must bear with the economic standing regardless of its severity. The challenge for the West is how to have good relations with both without antagonising the other and at the same time trying to bring about a degree of positive change in these countries.
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CNPC, parent of PetroChina, is also restructuring its Middle East operations, aiming to offer more integrated services from exploration to engineering, a company source said.
