Iran and China: Political and Economic Aspects of the Strategic Relationship
Iran and China: Political and Economic Aspects of the Strategic Relationship

Summary/Abstract: This paper provides an examination of the rationalities of bilateral relations. The question this paper is particularly interested in is what are the roots of the current Sino-Iranian comprehensive partnership and why now? Apart from the various debates on Iran and China, the paper argues that the current relationship is to extend a zone of peace and stability eastwards and towards the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, and it came in response to the imminent threats, pressures and recent aggressive developments in relations with the United States. The recent strategic agreement between China and Iran is an essential step forward in establishing stable relations. Nevertheless, Iran’s self-exclusion from the relations with crucial regional as well as the Western world has had the limiting effect of creating political and especially economic competitive opportunities for Iran, and thus relations with China has failed to create the positive political dynamics that were intended. The limited Iranian use of China’s economic and diplomatic power, an incompatibility that sets out a range of complex challenges in developing any tangible meaning to the concept of sustainable ‘strategic partnership’ between the two actors is a major stumbling block in the bilateral relations.

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