A Study Of The Saudi Factor In China-Iran Relations

The signing of the “25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement ” represents a brand new stage in the development of relations between China and Iran,meaning that China and Iran will achieve deeper contacts and cooperation in various fields such as politics and economy,which is a brand new situation for China to carry out Middle East diplomacy and develop China’s diplomatic map in the Middle East.This plan,which comes out in 2021,has sparked widespread concern in the international community.In the past,Saudi Arabia and Iran regarded each other as strategic rivals,and despite the current rapprochement,the two countries still face obstacles to the future development of their relations.Saudi Arabia,as a long-term geostrategic competitor of Iran,has maintained good interstate relations with China,while the political interaction and economic cooperation between the two countries have continued to develop steadily.Therefore,in order to achieve China’s goal of balanced diplomacy in the Middle East,China needs to consider the influence of Saudi Arabia on Sino-Iranian relations as they move forward.This thesis uses the representative reports of the Saudi mainstream media as reference,and divides the reaction of Saudi Arabia to the 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement into the milder and the fiercer,then concludes that the Saudi factor may have a restraining effect on the implementation of the agreement,but the effect of the Saudi factor may be weakened as the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran eases.At last,the political and economic interactions between China and Saudi Arabia show that the overall relationship between the two countries has been steadily improving since the agreement was reached.The analysis of the reasons for Saudi Arabia’s positive attitude toward China after the deepening of Sino-Iranian relations shows that improving Sino-Saudi relations is in line with Saudi Arabia’s national development goals and core interests.As a result,conducting a more flexible and balanced diplomacy and building a reasonable identity between Saudi Arabia and Iran are the most reasonable responses of China to the Saudi factor in the development of Sino-Iranian relations.