The main assumption behind China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is that economic connectivity can be insulated from geopolitics. The war with Iran is not just a regional conflict; it strikes at the structural heart of the BRI vision by showing that the BRI corridors are deeply impacted by regional security shocks. The BRI is an ambitious, multi-year Chinese program involving up to 150 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. It aims at securing stable flows of goods and services to and from China. The BRI was designed to pave the road for China to become the leading superpower of the 21st century. It was launched in 2013, with an investment of $1 trillion dollars, which is expected to grow, over time, to $4-$5 trillion. Iran was a central hub in the BRI China-Middle East corridor, where it served as a land bridge linking Central Asia to the Middle East and Europe. Along with other key countries in this corridor (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Egypt), the BRI invested in oil and gas infrastructure, ports, industrial zones, logistic hubs, etc., providing critical energy for the entire network while serving as a keystone for China’s westward expansion. The effects of the war on the BRI The war with Iran is affecting the BRI at three levels. First, it directly disrupts a key node (Iran). Chinese projects in Iran (rail, ports, energy) face uncertainty, suspension, or destruction; infrastructure corridors tied to Iran are now high-risk or unusable. Second, China depends heavily on Gulf energy, much of it passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now blocked by Iran. This hits the economic foundation of BRI (cheap energy + trade stability). Third, the war creates a spillover of instability across other countries involved in the BRI. Chinese