Iran, China Agree to Deepen Strategic Cooperation Through Multilateral Alliances

In this file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi (R) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pose for a photo on the sidelines of a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Sept. 16, 2022. Shen Hong/Xinhua via AP, File

The Iranian and Chinese leaders on Aug. 24 vowed to enhance their countries’ strategic partnership and promote “multilateralism” development amid Iran’s recent inclusion in BRICS.

The announcement came after a meeting between Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

During the meeting, Mr. Xi praised Iran for joining BRICS and said China will continue to support Iran “on issues concerning respective core interests” and deepen ties, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

Mr. Raisi vowed to advance their “comprehensive strategic cooperation,” including in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, saying BRICS expansion has shown that the unilateral approach is going “downhill.”

Iran was among six nations—with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—invited to join the bloc, with membership coming into effect in January 2024.

The expansion adds economic heft to BRICS, whose current members are China, which has the world’s second-largest economy; Brazil; Russia; India; and South Africa. It could also amplify its declared ambition to become a champion of the Global South.

(L–R) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raise their arms as they pose for a group photograph at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 23, 2023. Alet Pretorius/AFP via Getty Images

The entry of oil powers Saudi Arabia and the UAE highlights their drift away from U.S. orbit and ambition to become global heavyweights in their own right.

Russia and Iran have found common cause in their shared struggle against U.S.-led sanctions and diplomatic isolation, with their economic ties deepening in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Raisi said at the summit that Iran “very resolutely supports” the BRICS group’s de-dollarization efforts.

Iran–China Relations

Iran and China signed a cooperation agreement in 2021 to strengthen their economic and political alliance. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China.

China is a major buyer of Iranian oil despite U.S. sanctions designed to choke off these exports. Washington has imposed extensive sanctions on Iran over the years, partly because of alleged human rights abuses and the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Brandon Weichert, author of “Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower,” told The Epoch Times in an interview for a previous story that he believes that Beijing doesn’t intend to bring peace to the region but to gain greater control and access to critical energy flows out of the Middle East.

On the other hand, securing oil and natural gas from the Middle East would also help Beijing prepare for the wider battlefield for an inevitable invasion of Taiwan and curb any U.S. countermoves that designed to slow down or stop the Chinese invasion, he said.

“The ink is not even dried on this Chinese-backed deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Lebanon [are] popping off rockets at Israel,” Mr. Weichert said in an interview for “China in Focus” on NTD, sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

“And so this is not bringing peace, love, and happiness. What this is doing is creating disorder; this is managed disorder by China to stir the hornet’s nest, push the Americans out of the region.”

Hannah Ng, Tiffany Meier, and Reuters contributed to this report.