China sees trade opportunities in Iran after the U.S. drops out of nuclear deal
Politics & Current Affairs
Russia and China are eager to dance with Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump tore up his government’s commitment to the Iran nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend a regional summit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Qingdao next month, where discussions will cover economic, energy, and security cooperation throughout Central Asia.
- Iran currently is an SCO observer, but has long sought full SCO membership, for which Russia and China have voiced approval.
- Beijing will push for cooperation to combat the “three evil forces” — terrorism, extremism, and separatism — in addition to economic cooperation related to Belt and Road at the SCO Summit in June, the SCMP reports, but in general China wants to “push forward development of bilateral cooperation,” Reuters reports.
- Chinese support for Iran also has a lot to do with oil. The Wall Street Journal reports (paywall) that “Sinopec…sent a delegation to Tehran this month to complete a $3 billion deal” to develop the Yadavaran oil field, which would be “the biggest foreign investment in a decade.”
