Accelerating China-Iran Strategic Partnership in the Middle East

A direct extension of China’s established Pakistan and emerging Afghanistan model

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during a meeting at the Diaoyutai state guest house in Beijing, China on Dec. 31, 2019. Noel Celis-Pool/Getty Images

Commentary

Iran presents the ideal conditions for the Chinese regime to execute its proven takeover strategy that has already enveloped Iran’s much larger and nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan and now possibly Afghanistan.

Client States, Not Partners

A key pattern in Chinese alliance formation activities is a clear preference for asymmetric partnerships where Beijing serves as the senior partner. Under this arrangement, the other nation is locked into a near-permanent junior partner status with a degree of strategic dependency on China that compounds over time.