US seeks to gain China’s backing against Iran

Following unsuccessful anti-Iran campaign in Latin America and the Middle East, the US is now sending emissaries to China to win Beijing’s support in pushing through a UN Security Council resolution for international sanctions against Iran.

Two top US diplomats arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a visit that will, among other things, focus on persuading China to cooperate in imposing embargoes against Iran.

Washington hopes that the visit to China by US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeffrey Bader will also help in easing trade tensions with the Asian power.

Steinberg will be the most senior US diplomat to visit Beijing since a wave of disputes erupted between the two governments in recent months over Internet issues, trade, and US arms sales to Taiwan.

“We’ve gone through a bit of a bumpy path here, and I think there’s an interest both within the United States and China to get back to business as usual as quickly as possible,” US State Department spokesman told reporters in Washington on Monday.

Philip Crowley also asserted that Iran would be on the agenda of the talks between US officials and their counterparts in Beijing.

China, as well, seems interested in lowering the temperature of friction with the United States, a key trade partner.

Beijing has not yet acted on its threat to sanction US companies involved in the Taiwan arms sales. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said recently that he wants to ease trade tension with the United States.

The United States and other Western powers want China’s backing for a proposed UN resolution slapping new sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.

Analysts and officials say that China will resist any proposed sanctions that would threaten the flow of oil to China and Beijing’s investments in Iran, but most believe that the veto-wielding member of the Security Council will accept a rather narrowly-cast resolution that has a more symbolic than practical impact.

China, which has large-scale trade and investment ties with Iran, has so far resisted US pressure over the issue, stressing that the matter must be resolved diplomatically.

China could use its veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to block any proposed resolution.

Iran has repeatedly objected to what it describes as the unfair privileges that a few states have at the UN Security Council that allows some powerful countries to act above the law.

The US and its allies accuse Tehran of following a military agenda under its civilian nuclear program, although the UN nuclear watchdog inspectors stationed in Iran have not been able to substantiate such claims.

Under pressure from Washington, the UN Security Council has already passed a number of resolutions against Iran with the aim of restricting its nuclear activities.

Iran, however, has disregarded the motions, arguing that the resolutions are in direct contradiction with International Atomic Energy Agency regulations, which clearly state that all countries are entitled to enrich uranium as part of a peaceful nuclear program.