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Chinese Professor Identifies Three Risks For China in Beijing’s Recent Iran Deal

by Eric Olander

The recent signing of a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between China and Iran sparked considerable debate within China about whether the benefits of a deal with Tehran are worth the considerable risks to Beijing’s broader diplomatic agenda in the Mideast and, more importantly, its increasingly tenuous relationship with the United States.

Ma Xiaolin, dean of the Central Mediterranean Institute at Zhejiang University of Foreign Languages, is somewhat skeptical and feels that the deal provides far more upside to Iran than it does for China.

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