West Asia lacks mutually intertwined endogenous industrial development, even between its largest economies- Iran and Saudi Arabia. Within the framework of economic linkages and integration, this article uses competition structure measures- specifically “concentration ratios” and the “Herfindahl–Hirschman Index”- alongside of cooperation and trade development indicators, including “advantage”, “specialization” and “performance” indices, to assess the feasibility of investment and of intra-regional trade between Iran and the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council from 2000 to 2021. The analysis of global production structure across 22 industries over the past two decades indicates the increased monopolization, characterized by tight competition between United States and China. Furthermore, the global share and ranking of Iran and GCC members indicate their roles remain confined to resource-based industries. The primary barriers to deepening industrial investment and trade development are low industrial maturity and weak trade structures, which hinder significant endogenous growth. Currently, among the 22 industries and six GCC members, Saudi Arabia possesses the production capacity and diversity in half of these sectors, making it Iran’s primary partner for industrial trade cooperation. Overall, Iran’s intra- and extra-regional trade development requires four prerequisites: first, macro-policy reforms to stabilize the macroeconomic environment through sustainable and inclusive development and risks/inflation control; second, Iran’s trade policy reforms to eliminate non-tariff barriers and rationalize tariffs; third, identifying Iran’s natural trading partners for inclusive sustainable trade development; fourth, structural transformations to upgrade relative advantage into competitive advantages.