Trilateral Strategic Ties Shaping Between Iran, Russia, China

Some trilateral strategic relations are shaping between Iran, Russia and China, which is unprecedented in the foreign policy of the three states, an international affairs advisor said. 
“The three countries’ membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is very determining and influential in terms of balance of powers and strategic correlations,” Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said in an interview with IRNA. 
The three countries’ joint military maneuver is an instance of their shared security efforts against the trilateral pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States for the Indo-Pacific region, known as the AUKUS, he said. 
“This new array of the three sides’ forces … will determine the future of the defense balance in Asia and Oceania,” he said. 
He later described Iran’s relations with Russia as that of two “strategic partners”, rather than allies, given that both states come under sanctions of the United States and other western countries. 
“America’s hostile policies against Iran and Russia have prompted both countries to expand their cooperation in different political, military and economic sectors,” he said. 
Moscow welcomes the enhancement of ties with Iran, especially against the US and the West, while Iran’s policy of looking to the East is mutually a pillar of the Islamic Republic’s power for countering the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, he added. 
“Although we may have differences with Russia on certain issues, this will not affect the basis of the two countries’ relations as strategic partners,” he said.