Amid US fury, China stands up for Iran diplomacy

As the US insists fresh sanctions against Iran should be implemented over its nuclear program, China says more diplomacy should be exercised over the issue.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters on Friday that Washington would continue to reach out to other sides involved in the issue, including China, to decide on fresh sanctions against Iran.

“We think it is important that we move now toward looking at what pressure, what sanctions can be brought to bear on the Iranians,” Clinton said. “We’re going to continue to reach out to all of our colleagues in this effort, including, of course, China.”

China, however, continues to resist the US call.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said more pragmatic diplomatic efforts had to be made regarding the Iranian nuclear program, which Tehran says is aimed at the civilian applications of the technology.

“This issue has entered a crucial stage. The parties concerned should, with their overall long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy.”

Last month, the six major powers met in New York but failed to agree on a new round of sanctions as Russia and China called for patience and restraint in dealing with Iran.

Since then the US has been lobbying veto-wielding China and Russia to consent to more sanctions against Iran, which is already under three rounds of UNSC sanctions over its nuclear work.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that he would hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, in Germany.

He said he would try “to convey the position of the [six world powers] about the need for Iran to answer the International Atomic Energy Agency’s questions and take certain steps that would assure us of the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”

Lavrov said that an agreement on practical issues, such as the question of fuel supply for Tehran’s nuclear research reactor, would pave the way for renewing negotiations between the six world powers and Iran.

Lavrov, however, said that the issue would be brought up at the UN Security Council if Iran does not provide a “constructive reply.”

“If we do not see a constructive reply from the side of Iran, we will need to talk about that at the UN Security Council.”

The US and its allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military ends through its nuclear energy program. Iran denies the allegation.

After years of extensive inspections, the UN nuclear agency has not found any evidence that can be used to support US claims against Iran.