There was widespread disappointment in Iran that China didn't do more to help Tehran during the recent 12-day war with Israel and the United States. Beijing, for its part, offered robust rhetorical and moral support, but little else.

The calculus for Chinese policymakers is that Iran just isn't as strategically important to its foreign policy as other countries in the region, namely Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Jonathan Fulton, an associate professor at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and a leading expert on Sino-Persian Gulf relations, joins Eric to discuss his new book that explains China's rapidly expanding portfolio of interests in the region and why Iran, in particular, is not among Beijing's top priorities.

SHOW NOTES:

• Amazon.com: Building the Belt and Road Initiative in the Arab World: China's Middle East Math by Jonathan Fulton
• China-MENA Newsletter: The myth of China's leverage in Iran by Jonathan Fulton
• Bloomberg: Israel Urges China to Pressure Iran to Rein In Nuclear Ambitions

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In the first few months of this year, it seemed that China's ties with Israel were on the mend after entering into a deep freeze following the October 7th terrorist attack by Hamas. China had begun to soften some of its rhetoric, and Israeli officials were keen to re-engage Beijing on economic issues.

That momentum stalled in mid-June, though, when Israel launched an attack on Iran that prompted a strong rebuke by China at the United Nations. Now that the fighting has stopped and a tense ceasefire appears to be holding, there are indications both countries may be ready to re-engage one another.

Gedaliah Afterman, a prominent Israeli China scholar and head of the Asia-Israel policy program at the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, joins Eric to discuss Beijing's standing in the region after the war and what the prospects are for closer ties between Israel and China.

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China is emerging from the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran in a much weaker position. For years, Beijing counted on Tehran to serve as a bulwark against Washington. Today, though, that's no longer possible as the Iranian government and its proxies across the Middle East have been neutralized, at least for now.

The conflict also exposed a major Chinese vulnerability following threats that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attacks on its nuclear facilities. This would be devastating for the Chinese economy, given that between a third and half of all Chinese oil imports pass through this strategic waterway.

Ahmed Aboudouh, head of the China research unit at the Emirates Policy Center and an associate fellow in the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa program, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the new realities facing Beijing in the aftermath of the war in Iran.

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