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For years, China had played it safe in its relations with Iran to avoid provoking the United States, but it seems that all the bets are now on. Over the weekend, Tehran and Beijing signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with great fanfare in the Iranian capital. Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran, who is close to the regime, told Fox News that it is more than what is on paper.
“This strategic partnership is important because it allows Iran and China to build a roadmap for long-term relations that will be much more fruitful,” he said. “It is also a signal sent to the United States. The more the United States tries to isolate Iran and China, the more it brings countries like Iran and China to come closer and closer.”
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The agreement lasted five years. Although details have not been made public, rumor has it that China will guarantee cheap oil for two and a half decades in return for Chinese investment in Iranian infrastructure. The deal is estimated to be worth $ 400 billion, and Iran is making no secret of its interest in accessing Chinese technology. There has been speculation that the deal could include the creation of a Sino-Iranian bank, which could help trade in the face of US sanctions against Iran.
“More importantly,” Marandi added, “the two countries are very interested in cooperating under the Belt and Road Initiative, which would dramatically increase trade across Central Asia over the years to come.” Belt and Road is China’s initiative to expand its reach from Beijing to Berlin with infrastructure projects connecting continents to facilitate trade and enrich China.
There are reports that there has been some nationwide backlash in Iran because of the deal among those who fear China’s long arm. But Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called China a “friend of difficult times” and praised the emerging links between “two ancient cultures.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for his part, accused someone else of overstepping. “The United States,” he said over the weekend, “should end the jurisdictional measures targeting China among others.”
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There was a rush among recipients of the Biden administration’s harsh rhetoric on China, Russia, North Korea, and now Iran to show the solidarity of those sanctioned. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently visited China where he urged “like-minded countries to join forces to dismantle the US dollar’s grip on the international payments system.” And Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message to North Korean leader Kim Jung-un in which he called relations between the two countries a “precious asset”.
Mark Fitzpatrick, the former director of the non-proliferation program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the announcement of the deal confirms a trend. “China’s economic role in the Middle East is growing every year. This deal with Iran, as ambiguous as it is, is another indicator of China’s growing role and interest.”
It doesn’t necessarily conflict with American interests, he said, but it’s another game in the great power competition. But theoretically, rather than undermining the US position vis-à-vis Iran as Washington negotiates its return to the so-called JCPOA nuclear deal, China’s position could now provide leverage as a client. major of one of Iran’s most important commodities, depending on how the international card game stacks up. Many experts say that without relationships there is no leverage.
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“China bought oil from Iran, not at the level it was doing before, and through complicated arrangements. If Iran did something huge, its influence could play,” Fitzpatrick said. “China could cut oil sales.” China was part of the P5 + 1 group of countries that entered into this agreement.
“China played an important role in the original 2015 nuclear deal, not a leading role but a supporting role.” Fitzpatrick points out that China played a key role in the overhaul of the Arak heavy water research reactor, which had been one of the sticking points in the negotiations.
I ask Marandi where he sees Iran’s most important alliances and his place in the world.
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“Iran has many friends,” he told Fox News, pointing to his neighbors, except Saudi Arabia, and across the continent. “Iran’s problem is basically the United States and the handful of countries that work with the United States.”
Skeptics, despite proclamations of a strengthened friendship between Iran and China, say the new strategic union can only be a marriage of convenience that either side can use as long as it is practical and cost effective in the context. developments in the wider world.
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