I’m struggling to see the ideological compatibility between Khomeinism and the Chinese Communist Party. The former centers in theological sacrifice against great odds, the latter in one party’s total secular power.
But even as China imprisons 1 million innocent Muslims in concentration camps simply because of their faith, the Islamic Republic of Iran revels in its friendship with Beijing. As pro-hard-liner Fars News notes, the head of Iran’s navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi is showering China with praise during a visit to that nation this week. Under a thin guise, Khanzadi decried the U.S. Navy’s global presence, noting, “The world should know that the trans-regional states’ deployment in Northern Indian Ocean is meaningless, and that collective security will be achieved only by the regional states.” Khanzadi, Fars continued, “expressed hope that the two navies would increase their cooperation in the near future after identifying all capacities in the maritime technical, educational and operational sectors.”
This ideological inconsistency is stunning on paper, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Xi Jinping’s China and Ali Khamenei’s Iran are ultimately guided not by ideology, but by the pursuit of power. Where China preaches the values of mutual respect, it practices the policy of imperial mercantilism. And where Iran preaches the value of religious fealty, it practices violent sectarianism. At the margin, these regimes seek cooperation because both seek constraint of U.S. partnerships in the Indian Ocean. It’s the triumph of realism over any semblance of ideological consistency. And it stands in defining contrast with U.S. efforts to preserve the global commons.
Fortunately, America is in a good position here. The Trump administration has incentive to counter China’s naval power, and Iran’s navy cannot decisively contest the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf or further afield.
Nevertheless, we should recognize the growing alliance between these two hypocritical and unpleasant regimes.
