https://www.scmp.com/rss/525325/feed Arash Beidollahkani is a research fellow at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, where he works on Middle Eastern politics, governance and foreign policy. His research focuses on authoritarian resilience, emerging neo-authoritarian models, non-democratic institutions, and state–society relations in post-conflict and transitional settings. He is also an affiliated fellow at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies at TU Dresden. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Arash Beidollahkani Arash Beidollahkani Iran’s streets have once again become a site of uncertainty, but this time the tremors extend far beyond its borders. Unrest that began in late December spread across multiple provinces and continued into January. It was met with a level of repression that has only deepened public anger. What sets this moment apart is not just the scale of repression, but the way sustained instability is beginning to undermine long-held assumptions among Iran’s external partners, especially China. For years,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3340436/will-irans-instability-force-china-rethink-its-middle-east-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3340436/will-irans-instability-force-china-rethink-its-middle-east-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 01:30:13 +0000