China 'appreciates political wisdom of Iran handling sensitive issues'

China and Iran on Monday vowed closer cooperation, after Beijing played a key role in solving the decade-long Iran nuclear issue.

President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made the remarks when they met on the sidelines of a series of UN summits.

Xi is in New York to attend activities marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, following a four-day state visit to the United States.

The meeting came two months after a multilateral deal - in which China played a key role linking Iran and the West - ended the 12-year Iran nuclear issue.

Under the deal, endorsed by the UN Security Council, sanctions on Iran imposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations will be lifted.

In return, Iran will curb its nuclear program for a decade and get rid of 98 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Some Western countries have long suspected that Iran aims to create a nuclear bomb, but Teheran said the materials were just for civil use.

China has long opposed unilateral sanctions on Iran by the US and Europe, and has objected to threats of force.

Pang Sen, Chinese ambassador to Iran, said on Friday at an event in Teheran that Beijing appreciates the "high-level political wisdom of Iran when handling sensitive international issues".

Analysts have said the Iran case also reflects the great potential for Beijing and Washington to jointly push forward solutions to global issues.

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd wrote for The Guardian Australia's website on Thursday that China and the US have shared interests to "preserve the peace" in places including Iran, which "far outweigh" frustrations between the two nations.

"What these two great powers share is a maximum desire for stability and predictability," wrote Rudd, a leading Australian expert on China.

"Only (with stability and predictability) can their respective global interests be advanced. Anyone who doubts this need only take a close look at what both Beijing and Washington really think about ... Iran. Or the future of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea nuclear weapons program. And now even climate change," he wrote.