Distance from Beijing to Tehran
🇨🇳 Beijing, China → 🇮🇷 Tehran, Iran
The dashed line joins the two city centres; the true shortest path on the globe is a great-circle arc, and real flight paths also bend around restricted airspace and follow airways.
Following the Silk Road
Few routes follow history as closely. Heading west out of Beijing, the great-circle line passes the Gobi edge of Inner Mongolia and the border with Mongolia. It then crosses the deserts and Tian Shan foothills of Xinjiang before entering Central Asia over Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, passing close to Ashgabat, and reaches Iran south of the Caspian Sea. Caravans once moved silk, porcelain, horses and ideas along roughly this corridor between China and Persia.
Flights and freight trains
Nonstop flights have operated between Beijing Capital (PEK) and Tehran's Imam Khomeini International (IKA), though frequencies are modest and service has been interrupted, most recently by the 2026 war involving Iran, so check the current situation before planning. Tehran's older Mehrabad airport (THR) mainly serves domestic flights. Many passengers connect via Gulf hubs or Istanbul instead. There is no passenger train, but since 2016 freight trains have linked eastern China with Tehran overland via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, taking around two weeks instead of the month or more needed by sea.
A strategic partnership
China is Iran's largest trading partner and a major buyer of its oil. The two signed a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021. Earlier links are visible in the blue-and-white porcelain tradition, which developed from Chinese kilns and Persian cobalt pigment.
Beijing
Tehran
Frequently asked questions
- How far is Tehran from Beijing?
- 5,605 km (3,483 miles) in a straight line (great-circle distance). The distance is the same in both directions.
- How long is the flight from Beijing to Tehran?
- A nonstop flight covers the distance in roughly 7h 30m. That estimate assumes an average 800 km/h plus 30 minutes for taxi, climb and descent; scheduled times vary with routing and winds.
- What direction is Tehran from Beijing?
- Tehran lies roughly west of Beijing; the initial great-circle bearing is 287°.
- What is the time difference between Beijing and Tehran?
- Tehran (UTC+3:30) is 4h 30m behind Beijing (UTC+8). Neither city uses daylight saving time.
- Which airports serve this route?
- Beijing: Capital (PEK) and Daxing (PKX). Tehran: Imam Khomeini International (IKA); Mehrabad (THR) is mainly domestic.
- Are there direct flights from Beijing to Tehran?
- Nonstop flights have operated between Beijing Capital and Tehran Imam Khomeini International a few times a week, but service has been interrupted during the conflicts involving Iran in 2025 and 2026. Check current schedules; many travellers connect via Istanbul or other hubs.
Other routes from Beijing and Tehran
See the country profiles for China and Iran, or measure any other pair with the Asia distance calculator.