On the afternoon of July 15, “Relations between Major Powers and the Middle East” Innovation Program of the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies (IWAAS) held a seminar themed “Current Security Crisis in the Gulf” in the IWAAS.

　　Professor Tang Zhichao, Director of Division of Middle East Studies, presided over the seminar. Experts and scholars from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), Tsinghua University (THU), and the Institute of American Studies (IAS) of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) were invited to take part in the activity. The seminar focused on issues including current situations and uncertainties in the Gulf region, the trend of the Iranian nuclear issue, Trump Administration’s foreign policy and China’s countermeasures.

　　On the one hand, the participating scholars generally recognized that both the United States and Iran hardly had intention of triggering military conflicts, and that there was little possibility of war in the Gulf, but there were still some risk factors. On the other, scholars believed that China and the Gulf region share great interests in the fields of energy, economy, trade and investment while their development momentum is quite significant. However, in contrast, China’s ability to mediate and resolve conflicts in the Gulf region is rather limited. The participating scholars then held heated and in-depth discussions on the premise of the security situation in the Gulf, the possibility of partial conflicts and total war, the escort in the Hormuz Strait, diplomatic style of Donald Trump, the relationship between India and the Gulf region, and China’s diplomatic capabilities in the Middle East.