Iran will expand cooperation with Beijing and Moscow and implement a 25-year accord with China to confront geopolitical pressure with the West, president Masoud Pezeshkian told visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing on Wednesday.

In a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Pezeshkian said the country stood ready to expand ties with China and Russia to counter "unilateralism" from the United States, which he also accused of being "totalitarian" in international affairs, according to the Iranian presidential office.

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He said his administration was committed to implementing the deal that China and Iran entered into in 2021.

Zhang emphasised that Iran was a strategically important partner for China, and Beijing appreciated its "effective" and "constructive" role in regional and international affairs.

China and an isolated Iran signed the 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement in March 2021. Chinese state-owned Xinhua news agency said at the time the deal covered trade, economic, and transport, but neither side has revealed details of accord.

It reportedly involved China promising to invest US$400 billion across the 25 years to secure long-term energy supplies from Iran and help rebuild Iran's economy.

The meeting on Wednesday was a follow-up on Pezeshkian's agreement with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics summit in October.

At the time, Xi said China "supports Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and national dignity, steadily advancing its own economic and social development".

"Your trip to Tehran to follow up on these understandings is indicative of the Chinese government's determination to expand relations with Iran," Pezeshkian told Zhang.

Before the meeting between Zhang and Pezeshkian, Chinese and Iranian delegates held talks on expanding cooperation, particularly in economic ties, while officials from both sides also stressed the importance of cooperation in regional peace and security, Iranian state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said.

It was Zhang's second official visit to the country this year, following his trip to Tehran in May as the Chinese president's envoy to attend the funeral of the late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi.

Beijing and Tehran have been engaging frequently as hostilities in the Middle East escalate. Iran is considered a major backer of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both at war with Israel.

Hamas is embroiled in conflicts with Israel in Gaza, while Hezbollah has exchanged attacks with Israel in Lebanon despite a ceasefire deal being in place.

Zhai Jun, China's special envoy on Middle East affairs, told the Iranian ambassador in Beijing on November 25 to avoid military moves ahead of the truce between Hezbollah and Israel last week.

On November 20, the deputy foreign ministers of China and Iran, along with their Saudi counterpart, met in Riyadh and issued a joint statement calling for an "immediate end" to conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, and condemned Israel for infringing on Iran.

It came a day after Israel confirmed its air strikes had hit Iran's nuclear programme while degrading its defence and missile production capabilities.

The situation in the Middle East was further complicated by surprise attacks from Syrian insurgents last week, as Iran-backed forces were distracted or weakened.

Syrian rebellion forces stormed into the major Syrian city of Aleppo, which has been controlled by Iran-backed Syrian government troops since 2016. The insurgents have captured the Iranian consulate in the city.

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