Danial Khataei

Asian Affairs · Iranian Foreign Policy · Geoeconomics

Danial Khataei

Researcher and analyst of Asian affairs, Iranian foreign and economic policy, and the changing international order.

I work at the intersection of Indo-Pacific geopolitics, Iranian studies, international political economy, contemporary history, sanctions, connectivity, and transformations in regional and global order.

Speaking & enquiries HSE Profile Google Scholar ORCID

About

Regional expertise with a wider view of international change

My work examines how states navigate shifting balances of power, economic pressure, institutional change, and the growing political and economic importance of Asia.

I am a PhD student at the Department of International Regional Studies, Higher School of Economics in Moscow, and a Research Assistant at the Laboratory for Contemporary Iranian Studies.

My research combines contemporary history, foreign-policy analysis, political economy, and regional studies. Geographically, my work spans Iran, Southeast Asia, the wider Indo-Pacific, and Eurasia. Thematically, I am interested in how sanctions, economic strategy, regional institutions, connectivity projects, and great-power competition reshape the choices available to states.

I hold a Master’s degree in Asian Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Higher School of Economics, as well as a Bachelor of Science in International Relations from the University of London.

I work across English, Persian, and Russian.

Expertise

Areas of research and commentary

Indo-Pacific Affairs & Asian Order

Great-power competition, ASEAN centrality, regional institutions, hedging strategies, strategic autonomy, and the political economy of Asia’s changing order.

Iranian Foreign & Economic Policy

Iran’s relations with Asia and Eurasia, economic diplomacy, foreign-policy adaptation, sanctions, regional strategy, and the evolution of “Look to the East.”

Sanctions, Geoeconomics & Connectivity

Economic statecraft, sanctions-era adaptation, trade and financial constraints, transport corridors, infrastructure, and the geopolitics of market access.

World Order & Contemporary History

Multipolarity, institutional overlap, global fragmentation, historically grounded foreign-policy analysis, and the transformation of international and regional orders.

Research

From regional archives to questions of global order

A major strand of my current research concerns Iran’s engagement with Asia and the historical development of its eastern strategy. I use this work to address broader questions about diversification, sanctions, connectivity, regional institutions, and the adaptation of middle and regional powers to systemic change.

Doctoral Project

The Evolution of Iran–ASEAN Relations, 1997–2024

The project examines how a politically constrained regional power sought diplomatic and economic diversification in Southeast Asia; how ASEAN states and institutions managed relations with Iran; and how sanctions, nuclear politics, regional competition, connectivity projects, and changing global alignments shaped the possibilities for cooperation.

The research draws on archival materials, diplomatic records, policy documents, regional press, and multilingual sources.

Publications

Selected academic work

Work across Iranian foreign and economic policy, sanctions, political economy, Asian regional affairs, and contemporary history.

2026

Iran’s Pivot to Southeast Asia, 1997–2005: The Iran–ASEAN Corridor and the Defeat of the Sectoral Dialogue Bid In press

Journal of Asian Regional Order Studies

Journal page
2025

An Innisian Assessment of Russo-Iranian Economic Cooperation Under Sanctions

Oriental Courier, No. 1, pp. 81–88.

DOI
2025

Iran’s First “Pivot to ASEAN” in 1997–1999: Contexts and Results

Southeast Asia: Actual Problems of Development, Vol. 3, No. 3 (68), pp. 322–334.

DOI Read article
2025

Iran’s Accession to SCO: An ASEAN Perspective

Book chapter in Russia and ASEAN in the Asia-Pacific Region: Dynamics of Interaction, Regional Processes and Global Context , MGIMO University Press, pp. 172–176.

Volume
2024

From Resistance Economy to Iranian Neighbourhood Policy: Iran’s New Economic Paradigm

Oriental Courier, No. 1, pp. 142–147.

DOI
2023

The (Changing) Roots and Aims of Iranian Neighbourhood Policy

Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 453–468.

DOI Journal page

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Commentary

Analysis and expert commentary

I write and comment on contemporary international affairs for academic and policy audiences, with particular attention to Iran, Asian geopolitics, economic strategy, sanctions, connectivity, and transformations in regional order.

Expert Interview · Russian

Первый визит лидера Ирана в Казахстан: экспертная оценка значения для двусторонних отношений

DKNews.kz · December 2025

Commentary on Iran–Kazakhstan relations, transport diversification, energy logistics, financial mechanisms, and the changing regional geoeconomic environment.

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Policy Analysis · Russian

Масуд Пезешкиан и иранский «Взгляд на Восток»

Russia in Global Affairs · September 2024
with Andrey Zeltyn and Larisa Zeltyn

Analysis of the future of Iran’s eastern strategy under Masoud Pezeshkian and Tehran’s evolving approach toward Russia, China, and renewed engagement with the West.

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Engagements

Selected conferences and policy engagement

Selected presentations and participation across Asian affairs, Iranian foreign policy, international political economy, sanctions, and global-order debates.

Speaking, commentary, and collaboration

I welcome invitations for academic conferences, policy workshops, expert roundtables, panel discussions, podcasts, media commentary, and research collaboration.

I am particularly available to contribute on:

Indo-Pacific geopolitics Iranian foreign policy Iranian economic policy Iran and Asia Sanctions & economic statecraft ASEAN external relations Regional connectivity Iran–China relations Iran–Russia relations Geoeconomics Multipolarity Changing world order Contemporary Iranian affairs

Contact

Get in touch

For conference and speaking invitations, expert commentary, media enquiries, research collaboration, or academic correspondence, please get in touch.