China is expanding its scientific collaboration with Iran into the strategically sensitive field of rare earths, including processing technologies that Beijing has increasingly sought to protect from overseas transfer.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) unveiled the latest joint workshop programme with its Iranian counterpart on Monday, listing the “exploration and processing of rare earth elements” among five areas selected for cooperation.
The Chinese side will provide 30,000 yuan (US$4,200) for each workshop, covering expenses including meetings, accommodation and domestic travel, while the Iran National Science Foundation will help with international travel for Iranian participants and accommodation for Chinese researchers visiting Iran, the NSFC said.
The cooperation comes at a particularly sensitive time, with the US-Israel war on Iran unresolved.
Rare earths – a group of 17 metals with unusual magnetic and electronic properties – are critical to modern weapons, from missiles and fighter jets to radar and other electronic systems.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the United States had used “virtually all” of its long-range precision missiles during the five-month conflict.
On Friday, the Trump administration announced US$3 billion of investments in critical-mineral and battery projects aimed at replenishing weapons stocks and reducing reliance on Chinese supply chains.
China has the world’s largest rare earth reserves and dominates global production and processing, while also increasingly restricting the transfer of related technologies overseas.
After US President Donald Trump launched a trade war with China last year, Beijing hit back with rare earth export controls that disrupted supplies to American manufacturers and exposed Washington’s dependence on China.
Iran’s rare earth potential, by comparison, remains poorly understood but potentially significant. Its geology includes iron ore and phosphate formations that are considered favourable for rare earth deposits.
Exploration has identified rare earth anomalies across about 7,000 sq km (4,000 square miles) of central Iran, according to a February analysis by the Netherlands-based Hague Research Institute.
However, Iran’s extraction and processing capabilities remain at an early stage, with the country still a long way from achieving an industrial scale.
Cooperation between the two national science foundations dates to 2017, when they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Beijing.
“Iran is an important country in the Belt and Road Initiative,” the NSFC said on its website. “The signing of the MOU will ... promote the science and technology cooperation between the two countries and create benefits to the people.”
Since then, the two agencies have been funding joint research projects in a wide range of areas, from mathematics to biology, medicine, renewable energy, materials science, climate change and artificial intelligence (AI).
The joint workshop programme was launched in 2024, initially covering areas including climate change, AI, advanced materials and manufacturing, with grants of 150,000 yuan for each workshop.
Besides rare earth exploration and processing, this year’s call covers nano materials for disease detection, pollution monitoring, earthquake-resistant construction and greener manufacturing. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
