The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): Implications for Iran-China relations

Abstract

The article focuses on the Belt and Road Initiative, which was introduced by the leadership of the People's Republic of China in 2013, and its political as well as economic implications for Iran-China relations. The ongoing implementation of the Chinese initiative raises a few research questions. Would both sides benefit from the cooperation in the BRI framework or would one of them maybe have the upper hand? What are the main opportunities and challenges in the case of China-Iran relations and BRI implementation? The analysis is conducted in the framework of the grand strategy theory. This study is based on primary sources such as official governmental documents, speeches of influential politicians, and official statistical data. Besides these sources, information from secondary sources like monographs and academic articles was taken into consideration.