Iran and China's leaders continue to talk about the bilateral "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" and the 25-year deal (signed March 2021), but a recent high-level forum in Tehran revealed how war, sanctions, and differing risk assessments are straining that narrative.

This edition of Discourse Power features candid assessments made over the weekend at the “Third Iran-China Think Tank Dialogue Forum” 第三届中伊智库对话论坛 by Iranian and Chinese officials, diplomats, and scholars. Their remarks demonstrate how Tehran's hopes for security support and large-scale investment collide with Beijing's preference for low-risk Gulf partners and its priority to maintain stable relations with Washington and Europe.

The result is a relationship in which both sides invoke shared opposition to "US/Western hegemony," but treat each other as "instrumental partners" who struggle to build genuine long-term trust.