"Everyone is aware of Iran's remarkable place in the project to revive modern Silk Road; Tehran will have active participation in the major project," Tayyebnia told reporters on Tuesday.
He pointed to holding of the International Conference on Silk Road in the Chinese capital with Iran and 130 other countries attending the event, and said, "The event was significant and useful."
The two-day ‘New Silk Road’ summit wrapped up on Monday in Beijing, with 1,500 representatives, including 850 guests from 130 countries and 70 international organizations, taking part in the event.
The “One Belt, One Road” project was introduced by president Xi Jinping in 2013 as a land-and-sea version of the fabled Silk Road trading route of the 16th to 18th centuries.
China says the project is open to everyone, but it has also identified 65 countries along the Belt and Road that, since the early stages of the proposal, it insisted will participate in the initiative (whether they’ve confirmed it themselves or not). Together, the 64 nations plus China account for 60 percent of the world’s population and 30 percent of its GDP, according to the Hong Kong–based think tank Fung Business Intelligence.
China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 29 heads of state will attend the forum. They’ll be among the summit’s 1,500 or so Chinese and foreign attendees.