Iranian Foreign Relations in Asia
As new Asian markets have entered the global economy, Iran has built bilateral trade relations with many countries in the region. China has become one of Iran’s top trading partners in recent years and has pursued several joint investment projects with the Islamic Republic, which would further interlink the national economies of the two countries. Iran has pursued greater cultural ties with Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world, and has hinted at nuclear cooperation with North Korea. Iran also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2005, increasing its cooperation with many countries in the region through the multilateral forum.
