Looking to the East|Responsible-centered model in the relationship between Iran and China

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, considering China’s position in relations with Iran in recent years, it is necessary to address the limitations of these relations and explain why the relations with this foreign partner are not expanding.

As ​​it is known that about a third of Iran’s foreign trade is with China, despite this, Iran’s relations with China in foreign trade have stopped and entered into energy and capital cooperation. It has not been applied in other fields.

Examination of China’s economic and financial cooperation with the countries of the world and China’s reluctance to expand cooperation in various fields. It is associated with Iran. One of the obstacles to the expansion of cooperation with China is the lack of a macro strategy towards this country. are paper (perspective documents) that specify their positions towards a specific country or region and explain the goals of these countries from the relations with those powers. The lack of presence or even the lack of publication of such documents has caused powers such as China to have no vision of relations with Tehran.

Responsibility-oriented model in bilateral relationship

Sudden turns In foreign policy, in recent years, it seems that this possibility has become a certainty for the Chinese. Presenting the responsibility-oriented model for cooperation with China was also done in the same direction, which was an incorrect and of course unsuccessful attempt to develop relations with China under the shadow of sanctions.

According to this model, it was decided that the case of cooperation with China should be under the opinion of a certain person who is a representative of the government and is far away from the possible turns of politicians due to the change of governments. This case also became ineffective due to internal wrong signals and it was seen that the 25-year cooperation agreement between Iran and China, which needed to be revised in order to operationalize each of the projects mentioned in it, was left unfinished.

Actually, it should be said that Tehran sent these wrong signals several times. For example, the 10th China Belt and Road Summit held in Beijing hosted representatives from countries that want to expand relations with China under the Belt and Road Initiative. The presence of the political representatives of the countries shows the importance of this project to them. While the meeting witnessed the presence of the President, Prime Ministers and Ministers of the member countries of the Belt and Road Initiative, the mayor of Tehran from Iran was also present in the meeting. This only sends the signal that the Belt and Road Initiative is not a high priority for us, when it really is not.

Our relations with China require significant revisions; So that partial reactions such as the pivotal case in relations with China are considered insufficient and even ineffective.

However, it is necessary in the end It prioritized the requirements of relations with China. First, it is necessary to know this country well and to look at international relations from the perspective of Chinese schools, secondly, to calculate their cooperation models with other countries in various fields, thirdly, to estimate their needs and their macro strategy in relations with other countries. Explain the nations of the world. Fourthly, Tehran’s cooperation with them should be defined only according to their strategy so that it is approved by them and has the ability to be implemented, and finally, the projects should be in such a way that the risk of sanctions is considered and in order to cover their risk, the lowest cost for them. create and finalize.

Author: Nematullah Pahlavan, expert on China and East Asia issues

Tasnim News in a file titled ” Silk Road Partner” has evaluated the look-east strategy in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the bilateral relations between Iran and China. The content of this file includes detailed discussions and notes related to this strategy.

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