Chinese-Iranian Mutual Strategic Perceptions Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Niv Horesh, and Ruike Xu* ABSTRACT This article analyzes Sino-Iranian relations and mutual strategic perceptions, highlighting sev- eral types of tension in Sino-Iranian ties alongside areas of deeper cooperation. We examine in particular the policy debates about China between conservatives and reformists within Iran, and we compare their views of China to the views of Iran held by Chinese commentators. To that end, we extensively survey both the official media and scholarly literature in Farsi and in Chinese, since each strand reveals different sentiments and is accorded a different de- gree of openness. A relatively little-studied debate is under way in the Islamic Republic of Iran between the two main factions of the political elite, conveniently divided into camps of conservatives and reformists, over Iran’s relations with the great powers. In these strategic debates, and for different reasons, relations with the People’s Re- public of China, on the one hand, and the United States, on the other, have loomed large. The outcome of these debates will likely have profound implications for Iran’s place in the emerging post-bipolar international order and for how Tehran will project itself regionally and internationally. With this in mind, this article analyzes Sino-Iranian relations, drawing on a large array of primary sources in both Farsi and Chinese. We will highlight several tiers of tension in Sino-Iranian ties alongside areas of cooperation. In the conclu- sion, we will draw on our analysis of Chinese and Iranian perceptions, in particular on policy debates between conservatives and reformists within Iran, in a bid to assess how Sino-Iranian relations might fare in the future. To that end, we have undertaken an extensive survey of the Farsi-language me- dia, teasing out the sentiments and rationales guiding reformist and conservative policy makers in Tehran. The recurrent themes in the Iranian discourse will be cross-referenced with the discourse about Iran inside China, in order to weigh up the validity of optimistic as well as ambivalent strands regarding China’s and Iran’s current and prospective relations. * Corresponding author: Ruike Xu. Electronically published August 9, 2017 The China Journal, no. 79. 1324-9347/2018/7901-0002. Copyright 2017 by The Australian National University. All rights reserved. • 000 • This content downloaded from 129.234.000.068 on August 13, 2017 06:59:41 AM All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).