Following Iran president Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to China this Tuesday, military officials in Tehran now speak about new levels of cooperation with Beijing, with 15.000 Iranian drones set to be sold to China.
It was on this Wednesday that according to a senior official from Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, China will, in the near future, buy 15.000 Iranian-made drones.
China is in queue to receive 15.000 of our drones along with 90 other countries that have expressed their readiness to buy Iranian UAVs and benefit from our extensive UAV industry,” the official said at a ceremony at Qazvin International University.
Explaining that Washington and other Western countries can’t stand Iran-China’s growing partnership, the top adviser, whose name remained undisclosed apparently for security reasons, also noted that Iran’s “power has grown to levels where China is waiting in line to buy 15,000 of our drones.”
Iran’s growing interest to extend relations with China is in line with the “look to the east” policy, a notion promoted by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The idea calls for an expansion of ties with China and Russia as a long-term strategy to fight off Western hegemony and mitigate sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.
Hailing Iran’s eastward approach, the intelligence official noted that such “wise policy has paid off well” by tilting the balance of global power in Iran’s favor and to the disadvantage of the West.
US double standard in regard to Iran’s arm sales
The Biden administration has been accusing Iran for months of sending drones to Russia to be used against Ukraine. At the same time, Washington itself has been pouring billions of dollars’ worth weapons to Ukraine to be used against Russia.
As the West accuses Tehran of shipping drones to Russia, Iranian authorities deny such deliveries and have only admitted that a limited number were exported prior to the outbreak of the war.
This play of double standards by the United States, however, has not only not worked well as Washington expected, but it even further strengthened Iran-Russia and Iran China ties as mentioned in the above lines.
Iran has also become even more determined to engage in international stage on the military dimension as it is one of the few countries with such an advanced drones and missile industry in the world.
In addition to 15.000 drones that are to be delivered to China in the coming months, military cooperation between Iran and Russia is also expected to grow even further. Last month in January, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iran and Russia are moving ahead with plans to build a new factory within Russia that could produce at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones for Moscow’s war effort.
Numerous Western nations have imposed sanctions on Iran over its increased military cooperations with China and Russia. Tehran, however, is moving forward as there is no legal limits for Iran to build, sell, or buy conventional weapons from other countries.
This Wednesday, Iran’s Defense Minister, Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran that: “This year, the production of defense equipment in the country has enhanced three times and its export has increased five times compared to last year.
