Foreign and Military Affairs
Beijing sticks to Iran stance
By Ai Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-23 08:21
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BEIJING -- China on Thursday reaffirmed that the best way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue was through dialogue and negotiations.
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Envoys from the five UN Security Council veto-wielding nations, the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, along with Germany met at the UN headquarters in New York earlier this month to discuss a fourth sanctions resolution on Iran.
Chinese efforts are aimed at resolving the Iranian issue "through dialogue and negotiations," Jiang said in response to a question on which part of the sanctions China would like to see changed.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes but the West thinks it may have the capacity to build nuclear weapons.
News agency AP quoted an unnamed UN diplomat as saying that China has proposed changes to a US-drafted resolution, possibly weakening the penalty's effects. China's UN ambassador Li Baodong said that Beijing wanted to focus on "diplomacy" rather than harsh sanctions.
Zhang Xiaodong, deputy head of the Chinese Association for Middle East Studies said that China's participation at the New York meeting did not mean Beijing was moving closer to agreeing with sanctions.
"China's attitude has not changed much, in contrast to speculation by the Western press. Beijing is still for peaceful resolution of the dispute."
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country wants to hold further discussions on a nuclear fuel deal designed to curb Teheran's ability to make a nuclear bomb.
"The case can be a multilateral trust-making opportunity for all sides, including Iran," Mottaki said, adding that the principle of exchange of fuel has to be consensual. The exchange was initially suggested in 2009 but talks halted due to disagreements between the parties.
US President Barack Obama said earlier that he expected to see the Iranian case sealed "within weeks", but nothing concrete has happened so far.
News channel Al-Jazeera cited an anonymous UN source as saying last week that "it is much more likely that a resolution will not be put to a vote until June".
In a harsher tone pressuring Iran, Washington said it has not ruled out force to keep the country from developing nuclear weapons. "We are not taking any options off the table as we pursue the pressure and engagement tracks," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said on Wednesday.
"Talking about the military option is ridiculous. The US is still facing the consequences brought on by the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and its domestic economy also is in deep trouble," Zhang said, adding Pentagon's remarks only serve to push Iran into a corner.
Agencies contributed to the story
