A Reflection on the Comprehensive Program of Cooperation between Iran and China from the Perspective of International Law

On 27 March 2021, the Chinese Foreign Minister arrived in Tehran as an official visit, and in the midst of discussions about the US return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and the sabotage at the Natanz nuclear site, an agreement was reached entitled "Comprehensive Program of Cooperation between Iran and China". The very broad dimensions of this agreement in various economic, security, military, tourism, cultural, academic fields and with a special focus on the issue of energy, especially the purchase of oil and petrochemical products by China from Iran over a 25-year period, leave many ambiguities. It even raised questions for experts in the field, including why it was signed at this time and why for 25 years. In this paper, with the aim of resolving the existing ambiguities, we analyze this agreement from the perspective of international law.