Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran, also called Persia and Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east and the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It is the sixth largest country in Asia by area and the second largest in Western Asia specifically.

The modern government of Iran is an Islamic republic that includes elements of a presidential democracy, which was installed by a popular revolution against the USA-backed monarchy of the Shah.

Iran is a frequent target of US and NATO aggression, which is justified through fearmongering over the prospect of Iran starting a nuclear war, despite them having no motive to do so. The acts of aggression perpetrated by NATO include the use of sanctions to restrict access to essentials such as medicine, which harms the entire population. Because of this, Iran often forms strategic alliances with other anti-NATO forces, including Russia, Hezbollah and some Marxist-Leninist organisations such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). However, it should be noted that the Iranian state is capitalist and therefore actively suppresses Marxist ideology within Iran itself.

Following the outbreak of the 2026 Iran conflict on February 28, and continuing to the present, Iran’s long-time Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed during a joint Israeli–U.S. attack. He was killed alongside his daughter. son-in-law, and a grandchild.

Iran's geography makes it geo-strategically important for the modern global oil markets, as it is the northern coast of the Strait of Hormuz which is a maritime chokepoint through which a third of the world's liquefied natural gas and a quarter of global oil trade passes through. Iran's economy is dominated by state-owned enterprises, which make up 60% of the total GDP. A unique feature of Iran's economy is the presence of large religious foundations called Bonyad, whose combined budgets represent more than 30 percent of central government spending.

Historically, Iran has had ties with the Black liberation movement and the Nation of Islam.

History

Ancient history

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BCE.

Pahlavi monarchy

When Reza Shah came to power in 1925, he arrested the leadership of the Communist Party of Persia.

In 1951, the Iranian parliament nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Muhammed Mosaddeq and his National Front founded the National Iranian Oil Company, which later inspired the Free Officers in Egypt.

1953 coup d'état

After the Shah refused to give Parliament control of the military, Mosaddeq resigned. The United States forced the National Front to crush the Tudeh Party, which had 25,000 cadre and 335,000 union members. The CIA, led by Kermit Roosevelt, then overthrew the elected government and installed the Shah to rule as an absolute monarch. The Shah killed thousands of communists and nationalists.

Islamic Republic

After the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Bonyads were nationalized and renamed with the declared intention of redistributing income to the poor and families of martyrs.

In January 2020, the United States murdered General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike.

Foreign Relations

In June 2022, Iran signed a bilateral trade agreement with the Donetsk People's Republic at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum. Iran also signed a cooperation plan with Venezuela and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Iran and Venezuela "have closer ties with each other than any other country."

Relations with China

Military and Surveillance Cooperation

In response to reported Israeli intelligence penetrations throughout 2025 and early 2026, China and Iran deepened their security and technological cooperation. By January 2026, joint assessments were being conducted to analyze the infiltration methods and systemic vulnerabilities exploited by foreign intelligence services by those of Israel and the United States.

This strategy involved reducing Iran's reliance on Western technology. Through the Ninth Bureau of its Ministry of State Security, Beijing initiated a coordinated effort to assist Tehran in countering foreign spy networks and insulating critical infrastructure from foreign intelligence disruption. This included urging the abandonment of US and Israeli-made software in favor of closed, encrypted Chinese systems designed to be difficult to penetrate.

The technological alignment extended to strategic military systems, with China reportedly supplying advanced sensor systems and radar platforms.

• YLC-8B Radar: China has supplied Iran with the YLC-8B mobile radar system, developed by the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology. It utilizes UHF-band low-frequency surveillance to counter the radar-absorbent shaping of Western fifth-generation aircraft.

• BeiDou Navigation System: Iran has formally transitioned from the US-operated GPS to China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. On June 23, 2025, Iranian authorities deactivated GPS reception nationwide, blocking American signals for both military and civilian applications. The move was intended to prevent signal manipulation or tracking of Iranian targets by US intelligence agencies and to complicate potential drone and missile attacks by denying adversaries familiar signal-interference pathways. The transition enhances the guidance independence of Iranian missile and drone systems.

• Air Defense and Surveillance: The partnership has reportedly included the transfer of HQ-9B air defense systems to strengthen airspace monitoring. Cooperation has also extended to space-based surveillance, with Chinese satellite networks providing Tehran with enhanced reconnaissance capabilities.

These measures were framed by both governments as essential for ensuring Iran's defensive self-sufficiency and protecting the energy and transport routes essential to the Belt and Road Initiative from sustained external pressure.

Economic cooperation

China is Iran's foremost trading partner. Bilateral trade is characterized by approximately $22 billion in annual Iranian exports, primarily consisting of energy resources, and roughly $15 billion in imports of Chinese goods.

China is the primary purchaser of Iranian crude oil, consistently accounting for over 90 percent of Iran's oil exports in recent years, averaging approximately 1.43 million barrels per day in 2025.

To circumvent US sanctions, the two countries have developed a covert barter system. Under this arrangement, Iranian oil is shipped to China in exchange for infrastructure projects financed by state-backed Chinese companies. The system reportedly enabled Tehran to receive up to $8.4 billion in infrastructure development in 2024.