There is a need for authorities in Tehran to rethink policy and move closer to the East if it wants to minimize the negative impact of economic sanctions amid the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, according to officials and political experts.
President Hassan Rouhani's trip to China last week to attend an economic and security forum provided a "golden opportunity" for his administration to cement Tehran's economic and political ties with world’s second economic power to enable the country withstand mounting pressure from the West, says Shahbaz Hassanpour, a lawmaker.
Rouhani attended a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on June 9 and 10 in the coastal city of Qingdao, where he discussed bilateral relations and the fate of the 2015 nuclear agreement with world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
US Breach
"Our statesmen should realize that the world is not restricted to the United States or Europe. The Americans have shown that they never honor their commitments," Hassanpour told the Alef news website in remarks published on Sunday.
He was referring to the fact that US President Donald Trump—who made the destruction of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers one of the tenets of his controversial presidential campaign—followed through on that promise on May 8 by pulling out of the accord and reimposing sanctions on Tehran.
The remaining parties to the historic nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, namely France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, are trying to keep the deal alive and protect their trade relations with Iran.
Eastern Markets
"The government’s policy of only looking to the West was wrong, and Iran should upgrade its ties with China and Russia. We have to use these countries' markets for economic investment to resist US sanctions."
European JCPOA
Hassanpour's comments echoed the recent stance of the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who publicly expressed doubt about Europe's willingness and ability to challenge Washington on the JCPOA issue, saying that the economy cannot and should not rely solely on what he termed a "European JCPOA".
"We have to interact with the world wisely and seriously, but at the same time, we must remember that the world is not limited to the United States and a number of European countries," the Leader said in separate remarks.
Western-Oriented Policy
Javad Mansouri, a former ambassador to Beijing, also maintains that Tehran should seize the opportunity to strengthen economic and commercial bonds with China, which is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil.
"From the outset the Rouhani administration has pursued a western- oriented foreign policy and has shown little inclination toward the East. It has always put Europe high on the agenda, which is wrong because China provided much assistance to Iran during the sanctions era," Alef website on Sunday quoted the former diplomat as saying.
The president has expressed optimism about the path forward on the nuclear deal and believes that the US congressional elections in November could see Democrats flipping both chambers of Congress. Democrats have been in favor of the nuclear deal and may put Trump under pressure to rethink his decision about dumping the historic agreement.
Economic Threats
Mohammad Nabi Habibi, secretary-general of the Islamic Coalition Party, says European powers are not ready to "pay the price" for staying in the agreement and only interested in its economic benefits. As such, Tehran should prioritize relations with China and Russia to counter the "economic threats".
He says "Given the failures of the United States in particular and the West in general to fulfill their pledges, ties with the East, namely China and Russia, should be expanded on the basis of mutual interest.”
