China opposes ‘blind’ sanctions on Iran, defends Iran's nuclear rights
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has reaffirmed her country’s support for Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy, expressing Beijing’s opposition to “blind” sanctions against Tehran.
"We believe that Iran, as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, possesses the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes while following relevant international obligations," she said at a daily press briefing on Thursday.
She added that 'blind' sanctions will not help to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and the use of force is even more unacceptable.
Hua insisted on “dialogue and negotiations” as the only way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.
The Chinese spokesperson stressed the importance of maintaining and promoting negotiations to properly solve the Iranian nuclear issue in a comprehensive way.
She pointed to the latest round of talks between Iran and the six major world powers of P5+1 group in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and noted that the sides achieved active results.
Iran and the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany) wrapped up their latest talks in Almaty on February 27.
Both sides agreed to convene in Almaty again on April 5-6 for the next round of the negotiations after holding expert-level talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on March 17-18.
On February 28, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, who heads the Chinese delegation to the talks between Iran and the P5+1, urged both sides to maintain their negotiations process and said they made “tangible progress” in their latest round of talks.
Hua further urged all relevant parties to step up their diplomatic efforts in a flexible and practical manner and resume substantive negotiations at an early date.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a member state of the P5+1, China has always reaffirmed Iran's right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and stressed that negotiations and dialogue are the right approach to address the Islamic Republic's nuclear issue.
In an address to a Security Council meeting on Wednesday, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Wang Min reiterated his country’s strong opposition to the US-led unilateral sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program, saying Beijing is not in favor of putting excessive pressure or new sanctions against Tehran.
The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran has categorically rejected the claim.
Using the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
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