{"id":87540,"date":"2020-07-21T05:41:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T10:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=87540"},"modified":"2020-07-21T05:41:23","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T10:41:23","slug":"auto-draft-106","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2020\/07\/21\/auto-draft-106\/","title":{"rendered":"China, Iran Approach Major Accord Amid Deteriorating US-China Relations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"VOA \u2014 WASHINGTON – Beijing is reported to be in the final stages of approving a $400 billion economic and security deal with Tehran, which some analysts say could give China a vast and secure source of energy and a strategic foothold in the Gulf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign ministry has confirmed that the potential agreement includes significant infrastructure investments and closer cooperation on defense and intelligence sharing. It\u2019s also rumored to include discounts for Iranian oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The deal is the latest step in Beijing\u2019s attempt to expand from a regional hegemony to a world power via its Belt and Road Initiative.<\/p>\n

China-Iran deal<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are no concrete details of the deal available yet, but reports about what is under discussion indicate massive investment. China is reportedly considering investing $280 billion in developing Iran\u2019s oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors; and another $120 billion in upgrading Tehran\u2019s manufacturing infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The deal\u2019s scope was further illustrated when Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told parliament on July 5 that the country has been negotiating a 25-year accord with China \u201cwith confidence and conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

A report by the Petroleum Economist<\/em><\/a> suggests that the deal represents a potential shift to the global balance of oil and gas sector, as Iran has promised China guaranteed discounts on its oil and gas, and the right to delay payment for Iranian production up to two years.<\/p>\n

China is Iran\u2019s top trading partner and a key market for Iranian crude oil exports, severely impacted by U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n

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\"FILE<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>
FILE – Natural gas refineries are seen at the South Pars gas field on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, in Asaluyeh, Iran, March 16, 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How the United States fits in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran announced progress on the deal at a time when U.S. and China relations are fast sliding, raising the question if Tehran is joining forces with Beijing as part of a broader effort to counter Washington\u2019s foothold in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The agreement appears to have been in development since 2016, when China and Iran announced a 25-year-long \u201ccomprehensive strategic partnership\u201d during Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s visit to Tehran.<\/p>\n

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the D.C.-based think tank Middle East Institute, told VOA that the deal was not initially meant to be an anti-American initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember this was agreed in 2016. I think it was part of a broad Chinese ambition for Eurasia.\u201d He said, \u201cIf you look at the Belt and Road initiative of China, Iran appears prominently in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Vatanka said the timing of the Iranian announcement is tricky, adding there is a possibility that Iran wants to take advantage of deteriorating U.S.-China relations and go ahead and finalize the deal. But he says the Iranian government likely is also doing this for domestic purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is another driver. They want to show the Iranian people that they are not alone on the international stage,\u201d said Vatanka.\u00a0\u201cThe Americans are alone. Much of this is a game of psychology. Iranians leaders do not want to be seen in the eyes of the Iranian people that they brought the country to total isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposed new rounds of sanctions on Iran\u2019s energy, finance, and military sectors.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Friedman, policy director of military think tank Defense Priorities, argued that policy partly encouraged Iran to seek cooperation with China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good opportunity for China because [of] the United States\u2019 sanctions on Iran. It is desperate now, probably is willing to sell its oil at more of a discount,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

U.S. response<\/strong><\/p>\n

When asked about whether U.S. sanctions could have further strengthened the alliance between China and Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo<\/a> said the U.S. would continue to impose costs on Chinese companies that aid Iran.<\/p>\n

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\"U.S.<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks to the media in the Press Briefing Room, at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., July 15, 2020. (State Department Photo by Freddie Everett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe have a set of sanctions related to any company or country that engages in an activity with Iran. The sanctions are clear. We have been unambiguous about enforcing them against our companies from allies, countries from all across the world. We would certainly do that with respect to activity between Iran and China as well,\u201d he said at a press briefing on July 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Timothy Heath, a defense researcher at the RAND Corporation, said the China-Iran deal is just the latest example of escalating tensions between the U.S. and China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt follows the trend of the U.S. government policy that describes China as a competitor and a threat. The other trend is the growing deterioration in the U.S. China relations,\u201d he told VOA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIssues keep piling up, and the relations keep getting worse,\u201d he said, \u201cChina\u2019s recent agreement with Iran is the country\u2019s move to build up a partnership that would weaken U.S. presence in the Middle East. Both sides seem to be taking escalatory behavior to assert authority and to punish the other side, and this should be seen as another step in that broad trend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOA \u2014 WASHINGTON – Beijing is reported to be in the final stages of approving a $400 billion economic and security deal with Tehran, which some analysts say could give China a vast and secure source of energy and a strategic foothold in the Gulf.\u00a0 Iran\u2019s foreign ministry has confirmed that the potential agreement includes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latests"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}