The Strategist, a Canberra-based think tank, published an article by Amin Saikal, adjunct professor of sociology at the Centre for Muslim Nations at the University of Western Australia and author of “Iran Rising: The Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic. Amin Saikal, a professor of sociology at the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Muslim Nations and author of “The Rise of Iran: The Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic,” says that oil-rich, regionally influential, but U.S.-sanctioned Iran has signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with a global power, the Communist Party of China, which is suppressed by the United States. The Chinese Communist Party has launched a new strategic clampdown on the United States and its allies in the Middle East.
Wang Yi and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif Sign 25-Year Cooperation Agreement
The agreement marks a new high point in economic, trade, and military relations between the Chinese Communist Party and Iran’s Islamic theocratic regime. While the content of the agreement was not fully disclosed, it will certainly involve significant Chinese Communist Party investments in Iran’s infrastructure, industry, economy, and petrochemical sectors. The agreement will also strengthen military, intelligence and counter-terrorism cooperation, essentially linking Iran to the Communist Party’s Belt and Road Initiative as a vehicle for global influence.
In 2016, trade between the Communist Party of China and Iran totaled about $31 billion after the multilateral nuclear deal was reached, and in 2018 the Trump administration withdrew from the deal and imposed tough sanctions on Iran despite opposition from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, the Communist Party of China and other signatories to the agreement, but trade between the Communist Party of China and Iran is at a record high. Underpinning this rising relationship is a shared interest in countering the United States and its allies.
Deeper and broader cooperation between the Chinese communist state and Iran, especially as the two sides grow closer to Russia, and the adversarial relationship between China, Iran, Russia and the United States, has great potential to change the strategic dynamics in the Middle East. Beijing has so far been careful not to partner with Iran for fear of damaging its lucrative oil trade relationship with Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies. Saudi Arabia is Iran’s main regional rival, and the Chinese communist state imports 17 percent of its oil needs from Saudi Arabia, with only 10 percent coming from sanctioned Iran. The Chinese communist state also has military and intelligence cooperation with Iran’s other major regional rival, Israel.
Beijing and Tehran have been talking about this deal since 2016, and now that it has finally been reached, it is sure to deeply concern the Gulf Arab states, Israel, and the United States. These countries already increasingly feel threatened by Iran given Tehran’s growing influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, as well as its consistent support for Palestine against the Israeli occupation. The United States is also concerned about Iran’s influence in Afghanistan. U.S. and international coalition forces have been battling Taliban rebels in Afghanistan for 20 years without much success, and Washington wants a decent exit from there as soon as possible.
Because of Iran’s close ties to Russia, the Iran-China agreement could create a strong China-Iran-Russia axis that would only enhance Tehran’s bargaining position when negotiating a U.S. return to the Iran nuclear deal with the Biden administration. Biden’s return to the Iran nuclear deal is contingent on Iran withdrawing countermeasures imposed in retaliation for the Trump administration’s sanctions. But Tehran refused and demanded that the United States take the lead in lifting all sanctions.
Iranians have traditionally been wary of aligning themselves with any world power. Although Iran came into the U.S. orbit during the reign of the former kings, it actually contributed to the Islamic revolution that led to the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty and the rise to power of the anti-American Islamic regime. It is precisely the constant U.S. efforts to suppress and isolate the Islamic regime in Iran, especially during the Trump administration, that finally prompted Tehran to gradually turn to the East and come to the point of reaching an agreement with the Chinese communist state.
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