Toeing the Line, Drawing the Line: China and Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

Over the past decade, China’s relationship with Iran has been half-hearted. What has publicly been regarded as a close bilateral entente is in fact based on Tehran’s lack of better options and China’s clear ambition that a non-nuclear Iran should not be economically destabilised. The withdrawal of Chinese companies from technology transfers to Iran and the improvement of China’s export controls have led to frustration on the Iranian side and set bounds to bilateral relations for the long term. Today, China tries to convey its disagreement with Iran’s nuclear weapons program. At the same time, China has tried to separate the nuclear issue from civilian perspectives and opposed sanctions that might lastingly cripple Iran’s economy. The reasons can be found in China’s strategic regional considerations and interests in stability both inside and outside Iran. Thus, China has become a diplomatic broker whose credentials only suffer by the shortcomings of its own export control regime.