Prospects for Russia–China Cooperation in the Middle East
... and China may both be interested in gaining continental access to the Middle East using the territories and infrastructure of Iran and Iraq in order to strengthen their influence in the Arab Mashreq sub-region, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. The countries in the region may also be interested in this, as diversifying international relations will ... ... with regional countries, becoming a key trading partner for them. What is more, the massive and strategically important China–Pakistan Economic Corridor leads right into the Middle East. All this notwithstanding, the United States remains the major external ...