No Iran sanctions now, China says

China’s ambassador to the UN has called for a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, saying that it is not the right time to impose new sanctions on Iran.

“This is not the right moment for sanctions,” Zhang Yesui, who chairs the UN Security Council this month, told reporters in New York on Tuesday.

He stated that diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful settlement “still need some more time and patience,” AFP reported.

Zhang said sanctions themselves “are not an end” and a diplomatic solution “would be the best option.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters on Tuesday that Beijing believes that “dialogue and negotiation are the proper way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue.”