International Quarterly of Foreign Relations

International Quarterly of Foreign Relations

China, Iran and the geopolitical evolution of the Middle East

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Parviz Palirpoor 1
Zahra Korani 2
Mohsen Nasresfahani 3
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/fr.2024.425316.1461
Abstract
This article, with a descriptive-explanatory method, in response to the question of what were the effects of this geopolitical evolution on China's foreign policy in relation to Iran and based on the threat balance theory examines China's foreign policy after the US gradual the Middle East and the process of geopolitical evolution in the region. The premise of the article is that Beijing, based on its general pragmatic cooperation approach, considers Tehran's effort to counter the influence of the United States in line with increasing China's global influence and a powerful challenge to the the international order led by the United States. Therefore, from the point of view of the Chinese authorities, Iran's support for the resistance in the Middle East is clearly an obstacle against the US's increasing focus on the issues of the main Chinese geopolitical concerns in Indian and Pacific oceans. On the other hand, Iran finds China as its main economic and diplomatic supporter against the pressures of the United States. As a result, China in the era of Xi Jinping has supported and tried to create a soft balance between its relations with Iran and other regional partners such as Saudi Arabia based on a threat balance policy. Despite this, Beijing does not support the disruption of the balance of power in the region in favor of any of his important partners in the Middle East and consider maintaining the status quo as a better option.
Keywords
China
Iran
threat balance
Middle East

Subjects

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