With Iran supporting the revival of the Great Silk Road that once connected East Asia with Europe, Sputnik asked Moscow-based Oriental-affairs expert Vladimir Sazhin to about the role Tehran will play in this major geopolitical project.

�Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to�Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, confirmed Tehran�s backing for�the Beijing-proposed New Silk Road project and welcomed China�s growing economic might,� Sazhin said.

He added that the implementation of�the project the Chinese call the �Silk Road of�the 21st century� would expand Beijing�s economic and political clout to�the giant area stretching from�the Pacific Ocean all the way to�the British Isles.

The New Silk Road has two parts � the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the oceangoing Maritime Silk Road. The land-based project includes countries situated along�the original Silk Road through�Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, and calls for�greater integration with�the hopes of�developing a cohesive economic zone.

The complimentary Maritime Silk Road Initiative expands the project through�several contiguous bodies of�water, including the South China Sea, South Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean as�a means to�blunt US inroads into�Chinese regional economic hegemony.

The $150 billion project is scheduled for�completion somewhere between�2020 and 2025 and China has already announced the planned construction of�the Urumchi-Tehran leg of�the railway which could eventually reach the Turkish border.

The New Silk Road is an entirely pragmatic undertaking aimed at�making Asian mineral riches available to�Chinese investors and build a shortcut for�Chinese exports to�Europe. This would also bring China up�to par with�the United States as�a global political player through�the creation of�a �belt� of�loyalist states in�Asia cooperating in�logistics, energy, construction and culture.

�Iran, with�its advanced infrastructure, is a busy land and maritime crossroads connecting North with�South and East with�West. That�s why it is viewed by�China as�a country capable of�playing a key role in�the New Silk Road project,� Vladimir Sazhin he said, adding that Iran too was interested and agreed to�invest $6 billion by�2022.

When addressing at�a meeting of� Silk Road Cities� mayors in�Qazvin earlier this month, Velayati said that Iran would play a key role in�the project and that its Bender-Abbas and Chabakhar seaports were major sea and overland transport hubs seen by�China as�an �ideal instrument� for�achieving its goals.

�Iran and China have consistently been building up�their economic, industrial and cultural cooperation, bringing their trade turnover to $52 billion in�2014 from�just $12 billion in�1997. Tehran�s participation in�the New Silk Road project will bring the two countries even closer together,� Sazhin added.

This doesn�t mean, however, that Iran is going to�ignore its integration into�other regional associations. In an interview with�Sputnik, Mohsen Shariati Niya, a senior university fellow in�Tehran, said that Iran considered its participation in�the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Forum and the revival of�the Great Silk Road as�equally important.

�Iran is trying to�take part in�multilateral unions and is fully aware of�the need to�cooperate with�all countries, including those in�Asia,� Dr. Niya said. He added that Tehran�s interest in�the New Silk Way project was five-pronged and included cooperation in�the field of�free trade, coordination of�the countries� regional policies and consolidation of�their infrastructures and industrial potential, as�well as�financial and cultural integration. �Iran�s main priority in�all these projects is closer cooperation with�Russia, China and India,� he emphasized.

By Sputnik