China and Iran: A Reading List
A periodic non-paywalled post - the prof in me is always wanting to recommend, share and promote work that I think deserve a broader audience. This will continue to be updated but I thought it would be useful for those of you interested in the China-Iran relationship. I have a small mountain of articles in my office and have been going through them a lot recently as I map out a possible larger research project. Here are some books, documents and articles that I recommend.
John Garver, China & Iran: Ancient Partners in a Post-Imperial World, (2006, University of Washington Press). This is the gold standard, the book everyone starts with. Still holds up really well. Garver is a giant in Chinese foreign policy studies.
John Garver, China and the Iran nuclear negotiations: Beijing’s mediation effort, in James Reardon Anderson (ed.) The Red Star & the Crescent: China and the Middle East, (2018, Hurst). A really useful case study of China’s diplomacy leading up to the JCPOA.
Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai, Triple Axis: Iran’s Relations with Russia and China (2018 IB Tauris). The authors are Iran specialists, so the Iran analysis is strong, while the China side is thin. Still, quite good for understanding how Iran considers its relations with China and Russia, a topic that has only gotten more important since they wrote the book.
Work Together for a Bright Future of China-Iran Relations: Full text of Xi’s signed article on Iranian newspaper - Xinhua, January 21, 2016. Xi was the first head of state to visit Iran after the JCPOA was signed, and on this visit they announced the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Full text of joint statement on comprehensive strategic parternship between I.R. Iran, P.R. China, Official Website of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 23, 2016.
Last among equals: The China-Iran partnership in a regional context, Wilson Center 2020. By Lucille Greer and Esfandyar Batmanghelidj. They published this shortly after the ‘25-year plan’ was leaked, and before the 2016 comprehnsive strategic partnership was operationalized. Besides being a really good overview of the relationship, this contains a translation of the leaked ‘Iran-China (25 Year) Comprehensive Partnership Plan’.
China and Iran: Economic, Political, and Military Relations, RAND 2012. Scott W. Harold and Alireza Nader. This is dated but I remember it as a good overview of the relationship.
Iran’s Petroleum Exports to China and U.S. Sanctions, Congressional Research Service, May 8, 2024. The CRS is a fantastic resource that has something about whatever you’re looking for. This brief is frequently updated as events change.
Iran & China: A Trade Lifeline, US Institute of Peace, July 5, 2023.
Iran & China: Military ties. US Institute of Peace, June 28, 2023.
Academic articles
Academic publishing is a horrible scam of an industry, but the standard of peer review usually results in a high standard of work, and these are worth reading. Some of these are paywalled. If they are and you don’t have access, I recommend you email the author and request a PDF. Academics are usually excited when someone wants to read our work and more often than not will share our articles. I’ve included the abstracts to give you a sense of what the research is about.
Great power - middle power dynamics: The case of China and Iran, Dara Conduit and Shahram Akbarzadeh, Journal of Contemporary China, 2019, vol. 28 issue 117.
Abstract
Iran is expected to be one of the main beneficiaries of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China and Iran had a track record of cooperation long before the announcement of BRI, developing a highly asymmetric Great Power-Middle Power partnership over the course of three decades. This article asks whether BRI will enable China and Iran to transcend the limitations faced by most Great Power-Middle Power relationships on the basis of Iran’s enhanced strategic economic and geographic value. It is argued that while BRI could benefit from stronger China–Iran ties, Iran’s international posturing has proven a significant hindrance to China, highlighting that entrenched patterns of engagement in Great Power-Middle Power relations are not easily shifted, even in the face of immense economic incentives.
Asian Affairs, Volume 53, Issue 1 (2022): Sino-Iranian Relations From Tentative Diplomacy to Strategic Partnership. This is a special issue edited by Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Jacopo Scita, Dan Wang & Benjamin Houghton. There are 9 articles here, most of which are open access. Mine isn’t; if you’d like a copy let me know in the comments and I’ll email it to you.
Asianisation of Asia: Chinese-Iranian Relations in Perspective, Anoushiravan Ehteshami
ABSTRACT
Systemic shift, in which the weight of the global economy has shifted away from the Euro-Atlantic eastwards, is increasingly underlined by what is referred to here as the ‘Asianisation of Asia'. Asianisation is a process in which Asia's diverse regions steadily converge around shared economic agendas. Japan, followed by the so-called ‘Asian Tigers’, were the pioneers of the Asian process, which began in earnest in the mid-1960s. China and India, drivers of the pre-modern world economy, are emulating the strategies of the early Asianisers this century and are building parallel pan-Asian relations of their own. Nowhere is this more evident, and indeed significant, than in relation to China and Iran, the Asianisers par excellence. Their relations are arguably critical to the process, a process which is infused with the legacy and their collective memories of the ancient Silk Road which had shaped pan-Asian relations for centuries before the rise of European power.
Why Did China’s Rise Succeed and Iran’s Fail? the Political Economy of Development in China and Iran, Mehdi Parvizi Amineh
Abstract
There are many shared historical experiences and similarities between Iran and China. Both are legacies of the long-lasting empires and civilisations in West and East Asia, respectively. Like other great Asian empires, Iran and China were confronted with the expansion of the European imperial powers in the early-nineteenth century which ultimately led to the dislocation of these ancient empires. Both countries had resisted pressures towards peripheralization in the global economy by the creation of nationalist popular revolutions and by building modern nation states and identities in the first half of the twentieth century, despite different political systems, cultures, and external relations. Both Iran and China have been trying to escape from the external pressures and internal socio-economic backwardness by the modernization of their states, societies, and economies via a state-led catch-up development strategy. These efforts led to the rise of China in the late-20th century and the emergence of post-Islamic revolutionary Iran 1978/79 as a ‘contender state' to the hegemony of the United States (US) in West Asia. This development raises two key questions: why did China succeed in rising as an industrialised regional and global power, and has Iran’s development strategy failed so far?
I argue that the main reason for post-revolutionary Iran failure to become the regional hegemon comes from two interconnected issues: (i) the failure of its economic development strategy, which was mainly caused by (ii) the ‘offensive' external involvement in its own region before a successful catch-up process. Iran's catch-up development strategy, which is the main material basis for the country's rise, was hampered after the revolution by its ‘offensive, revolutionary and military oriented foreign policy'. This strategy blocked Iran from access to capital, information and technology concentrated in the core area of the global economy dominated by the US. Unlike Iran, China's successful catch-up industrialisation was driven, in part, through rapprochement and consensus between Chinese leaders and the US and its allies in 1970s. This strategy led China to distance itself from Mao's revolutionary offensive foreign relations and replace it with ‘defensive’ and peaceful foreign relations in the era of its catch-up industrialisation (1980-2000s).
China–Iran Relations from the Perspective of Tehran’s Look East Approach, Hongda Fan
Abstract
In recent years the Iranian government has emphasised its Look East approach. As a diplomatic choice, the Look East approach has also aroused different understandings among Iranian scholars and in this context, China has received more attention from Iran. For different reasons, many countries have tracked and observed Iran's Look East approach and China-Iran relations. At present, there are many negative perceptions about the Look East approach and Sino-Iranian relations in Iran and the international community. So far, China has made very few official comments on Iran's Look East approach, and this is essentially the case with Chinese scholars and media. China is very concerned about whether Iran's Look East approach is an act of political expediency or a strategy. Some of Iran's actions in the past few years have partially proved the necessity for China to be so suspicious. Although there are some negative views of China in Iran, Beijing should still pay more attention to deepening relations with Tehran. Even if Iran's Look East approach is not a long-term strategy, it is no longer just an expedient measure to deal with Western sanctions. China must be an important goal of Iran's multilateral diplomacy. China and Iran, which need each other, urgently need to increase political mutual trust.
Iranian Digital Diplomacy Towards China: 2019 as a Turning Point, Dan Wang & Roie Yellinek
Abstract
Digital diplomacy is an efficient tool for building close relationships between countries, especially when it comes to people-to-people diplomacy (P2P). This article aims to explore how the Iranian embassy in Beijing uses Chinese social media and reveals the motivations and changes in its behaviour. The main finding was that 2019 was a turning point; before 2019, the embassy messages were more informative without targeting specifically its Chinese audience, and since 2019 the messages have been showing deeper understating the local discourse and, therefore, have been more tailored for its Chinese audience. The main reasons for that were the place of Iran in the China-US trade war, the role of the EU in uplifting Iran's status in the international community, and the Ambassadors' characteristics and background, which switched at the end of 2018.
China-Iran Relations Through the Prism of Sanctions, Jacopo Scita
Abstract
The article aims to understand how China has dealt with the puzzle of Iran's sanctions. Beijing's approach and reaction to the question of sanctioning Tehran and abiding by the sanctions imposed by the United States and the UNSC are a response to a complex matrix formed by three distinct but co-existing dimensions: the bilateral relationship with Iran, that with Washington, and its own positioning within the international community. Each dimension is associated with the performance of a specific international role. What emerges from the analysis of three case studies – the introduction of the 1996 Iran and Libya Sanction Act, the UNSC resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran (2006-10), and the response to Washington's Maximum Pressure campaign – is that, for China, Iran's sanctions are an inherent source of conflicts between its roles. Ultimately, Beijing's responses to the emerging conflicts between its roles have been cautious and aimed at tempering their possible escalations, even though the case studies show that a quite visible hierarchy of roles exists. China's role vis-à-vis Iran occupies a lower position than those performed vis-à-vis the United States and the international community.
China and the Iranian Revolution: New Perspectives on Sino-Iranian Relations, 1965–1979, William Figueroa
Abstract
This article examines several under-explored aspects of Sino-Iranian relations in the 1970s, the process of Sino-Iranian rapprochement, and China's reaction to the 1979 revolution. By relying on sources in both Chinese and Persian and pushing back the timeline to 1965, it analyses the role of China's unofficial support for Iranian Maoism on official relations, the personal role of the Shah and the women of the royal family, China's internal view of the Islamic Republic shortly after 1979, and the role of propaganda and performativity in Sino-Iranian diplomacy. In doing so, it sheds new light on old topics and expands on previous studies that focus primarily on the official politics of rapprochement and the post-1971 era.
China’s Balancing Strategy Between Saudi Arabia and Iran: The View from Riyadh, Benjamin Houghton
Abstract
Since Deng Xiaoping's opening-up policy and drive for economic modernisation and reform in the late 1970s, and especially since China's foreign energy requirements skyrocketed in 1993, Beijing's interests in the Persian Gulf have grown immensely. A staple of its regional policy has been an insistence on cultivating relations with all states, something that has necessitated a careful balancing act between regional rivals, especially Saudi Arabia and Iran. This article examines China's strategy to balance relations with these two states, especially during periods of tension, such as following the 2019 drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, something that Riyadh accused Iran of masterminding. Following an examination of this strategy, the article explores Saudi attempts to coax Beijing away from Tehran and Saudi perceptions of Sino-Iranian relations through the lens of the 2021 25-year agreement between China and Iran, questioning whether Sino-Iranian relations are a bone of contention in Sino-Saudi relations.
The China–Iran Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: A Tale of two Regional Security Complexes, Jonathan Fulton
ABSTRACT
The China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP) has been described as a potentially disruptive alignment. This article analyses the impact of the CSP in two regional security complexes (RSCs): the Persian Gulf and South Asia. It finds that of the two RSCs, the China-Iran CSP has a greater likelihood of affecting the strategic landscape of the South Asian RSC as China seeks to contain India's power and influence. In the Persian Gulf, China's economically-motivated regional presence is supported by the maintenance of the status quo, and as a result the CSP is not likely to adversely affect that RSC.
An Illusory Entente: The Myth of a Russia-China-Iran “Axis”, Nicole Grajewski
Abstract
The Russian factor in Sino-Iranian relations has been an outgrowth of Moscow's relations with Beijing and Tehran which each occupy distinct, though at times overlapping, roles in Russian foreign policy. Whereas the economic ties between Beijing and Tehran have been crucial in the evolution of Sino-Iranian relations, Russia-Iran relations have been driven by converging security concerns with an emphasis on regional issues ranging from the Caspian Sea to Afghanistan. This article begins with an overview of the convergences in Russia, China, and Iran's view of international order, which has materialised in the nascent collective efforts to contest the basis of ostensibly ‘liberal' norms and practices. It proceeds to examine the Russian and Chinese role in the evolution of the Iranian nuclear programme and joint Sino-Russian collaboration during P5+1 negotiations. Next, it shifts its focus to regional and domestic security through Iran's engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and through Beijing and Moscow's transmission of sovereignty-boosting practices to strengthen regime stability. Finally, it concludes with Iran's role in Russian efforts to link the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) with China’s Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) as well as the wider efforts at supporting de-dollarisation. Yet, despite ideational convergences and coordination on salient issues, it would be erroneous to suggest the existence of a formidable Russia-China-Iran axis. Rather, the tripartite relationship between Russia, China, and Iran remains an illusory entente – bereft of regularised, institutionalised relations outside of their respective bilateral ties which tend to allow only modest trilateral coordination.
China between Iran and the Gulf Monarchies, Jonathan Fulton, Middle East Policy, 2021, vol. 28 issue 3-4.
Abstract
China's deepening ties to Iran, evident in the comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP) signed in 2021 after five years of stalled progress, is not an indication of a revisionist Chinese approach to the Gulf region. In fact, its CSPs with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, already activated and implemented, are at far more mature levels, commensurate with China's deep levels of economic and political engagement with the Arab side of the Gulf. This is consistent with a strategic hedging approach that Beijing has used to build a sustainable presence without disrupting a competitive and fragile regional order. With far larger and more diverse interests in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, China's partnership with Iran creates leverage due to the asymmetry inherent in the China-Iran relationship.
China's marginal involvement in the 2023 Iran-Saudi Arabia reconciliation. Niloufar Baghernia, Asian Affairs, 2024.
Abstract
The restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023 has been described as a landmark in China’s advancing engagement in Middle Eastern affairs. This article argues, however, that China’s role in the deal was minimal and that the main drivers of the agreement were Iran and Saudi Arabia’s own objectives and concerns and, in particular, Saudi Arabia’s growing economic and military power. China’s greatest influence resulted from its intervention on the side of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states and the Tehran leadership’s perceptions that Beijing’s commercial interests were leading it to side with Riyadh. The Iranian government’s fears were exacerbated by concerns about mass protests in Iran in 2022 and the outcomes of the China-GCC Summit in December of that year. At the same time, Saudi Arabia chose to de-escalate its confrontation with Iran to strengthen its regional and global power underpinned by the huge Vision 2030 development programme.
Iran's Strategies in Response To Changes in US-China Relations. Sara Bazoobandi, Middle East Policy, 2024.
Abstract
The dynamics of the relationship between the United States and China have been shifting. This has prompted changes in strategic calculus and policy adoption by the friends and foes of each side. Iran, given its decades-long links with China, has made several. First, it has deepened its ties with the Asian power beyond collaboration in business and trade. Second, it has revised its policies in the Gulf region to be a part of what it sees as China's network of influence, hoping to better position itself in a multilateral global order. Third, it has been seeking opportunities to project power through showing off its military capabilities in Ukraine. This article examines these strategic responses and concludes that Iran has been pursuing an agenda in line with the world vision of its senior leaders. The end goal for Tehran is to gain more power and relevance in the global strategic calculus.
From Model to Muddle: Iran’s car industry and its Chinese technological knight. Shirzad Azad, Asian Affairs 2023.
ABSTRACT
Following the signing of the JCPOA nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 countries in June 2015 and the subsequent lifting of international sanctions, many observers predicted that Chinese carmakers would be squeezed out of the Iranian market by European and South Korean manufacturers. In 2018 however, after the Trump administration withdrew the United States from the agreement and reinstated sanctions, the situation moved in favour of the Chinese car industry. China has now become the biggest overseas player in Iran's automobile market. This article argues that the abandonment of the JCPOA by Washington led to the ‘China-ization’ of the car industry in Iran and shows how Iranian carmakers played an instrumental role in this process.
“We deserve better”: Ideologies of deservingness and status in the interpretation of Chinese goods in an Iranian bazaar. Simon Theobald, Iranian Studies, 2020.
Abstract
This article argues that even as Chinese imports occupy an increasingly large percentage of the space in Mashhad’s bazaars and marketplaces, such goods are interpreted not only as being of poor quality but, critically, as insufficiently “worthy” of the Iranian middle class who positioned themselves as “deserving better.” In attempting to assess why this is the case, the article suggests that such framing both reveals much of, and requires us to consider, the pivotal role of status in Iran. It holds that this concern for status is expressed at multiple levels: that of the family, as a class, and finally, of the nation. At each of these levels of expression, it is possible to trace different post-revolutionary social phenomena. These include the reification of the family as a moral unit, major shifts in the demographics of education and urbanization, the rise of a consumer culture and the perilous decline of the fortunes of the middle class, and, finally, imaginings of national exceptionalism. This article then uses such readings of Chinese goods as a window into middle class ideologies of worth and deservingness.