It has been argued that China has benefitted from U.S. sanctions in Iran, and will lose out in the case of a U.S.-Iran détente. Yet hostility has already severely undermined China’s economic relations with Iran, and though China and the U.S. do share the same security concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, they have different ideas for solutions.

After years of fruitless efforts to prevent Iran from conducting any uranium enrichment, U.S. negotiators today join with their Chinese counterparts in seeking to contain, rather than eliminate, Iran’s nuclear weapons potential. However, while Chinese policy makers do not want Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, they oppose the use of military force or severe sanctions to prevent it. Richard Weitz highlights a China – U.S. competition for economic advantage in Iran, a dynamic that may define future talks.

Will China take a more proactive role in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue? As Dr. Jin Liangxiang explains, China remains an economic victim in the dispute and must promote reconciliation between the West and Iran.

Li Zhaoxian writes that the interim agreement on Iran does not bode well for a fundamental change in US-Iran relations, and that the eventual resolution of the nuclear issue will likely remain an extravagant hope.

During the past week’s acrimonious public debate over the stalled nuclear negotiations in Geneva regarding Iran, China has escaped public censure. Beijing’s low profile was not due to indifference, but to China’s complex relationship with Iran and the United States.

If Rouhani is going to improve the Iranian economy, then he has to seek the cancellation or at the least the relaxation of sanctions by the West. In other words, the new Iranian President has to be more innovative and flexible in diplomatic policies, including the nuclear issue, writes He Wenping.

The sanctions by Washington are undermining the very goals that it would like to achieve with Iran, while dividing the old U.S. allies and strengthening China’s clout in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia refused to accept the UN Security Council seat as a non-permanent member. Wu Sike argues the decision reflects the growing dissatisfaction of the Middle East countries with the Obama administration’s current foreign policy and proposes China-US cooperation to resolve the conflicts in the region.

It will depend on the US whether Iran-US relations will enter a stage of normalization, writes Jin Liangxiang. The US may not be ready for such a process, though some senior diplomats are once again calling for reviewing US-Iran relations.