The growing need for energy resources has helped propel increased cooperation and business between the Islamic Republic of Iran and countries throughout Asia. Indeed, Iranian officials have explicitly made the expansion of trade with its near and far Eastern partners a priority for the country. Particularly notable is Iran’s trade with China, which has risen ten-fold over the past decade and in the process dislodged the European Union as Iran’s most significant trade partner. Yet for China, as well as other Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan, trade with Iran must be carried it out with consideration to the growing list of international, regional, and unilateral sanctions introduced in large part as a result of concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. On the one hand, Iran’s natural resources are needed to fuel their economies, and the country continues to provide opportunities for investment as well as a market for exports – opportunities made even more relevant given the increasing inability or reluctance of Western companies to do business in Iran. On the other hand, they must bear in mind the limitations and pressures on such activities as a result of the suspicion that Iran is pursuing a military component to what it has consistently maintained is a peaceful nuclear program. For Iran, meanwhile, an eastward orientation can serve to soften the economic impact of the restrictions it faces as well as trying to translate this economic dynamic into diplomatic goodwill. This paper will explore the rising significance of the Far East in Iran’s foreign and trade policy in recent years, focusing on Tehran’s links to four countries in particular: China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. Economic data will be complemented by official views and statements so as to provide indications of how Iran’s ties with Asia have developed, as well as the impediments to these ties and the way in which these impediments are addressed.