The remarks from Saeed Jalili came as Western calls mount for tough new punitive action against Iran over its suspect nuclear program — action that hinges on the approval of China, which wields a UN Security Council veto.
Beijing has until now refused to back Western calls for new sanctions, and earlier in the day again urged all parties to hold more talks and “show flexibility” in resolving the international standoff over Iran’s atomic drive.
In a phone call with Hu, Obama called for better Sino-US cooperation to ensure “that Iran lives up to its international obligations,” the White House said.
Jalili suggested, however, that Beijing was heeding Tehran’s calls for help. “Many issues came up in our talks on which China accepted Iran’s position,” Jalili told reporters after talks with Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. “We jointly emphasized during our talks that these sanctions tools have lost their effectiveness,” Jalili said, though he said reporters “must ask China their position.”
The envoy said the West should change their “erroneous methods” and stop “threatening” Iran, warning that talks with six world powers including China and the United States could collapse if the West does not back off. “If they continue with simultaneous talks and pressure, these negotiations cannot succeed,” Jalili said.
“China as a large country can play an important role in changing these wrong methods.” The five permanent UN Security Council members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany have been involved in talks with Iran for months to try to end the standoff.
Beijing has a close diplomatic and trade relationship with Iran, dominated by its imports of Iranian energy resources — a point emphasized by Jalili, who said: “We believe China and Iran’s friendly relations will continue.” US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said China was ready for “serious negotiations” on Iran — a move hailed by the White House as an “important step” — but the language used in Beijing did not signal any policy shift.
Yang said China “urges relevant parties to step up diplomatic efforts, and show flexibility, to create the conditions to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiation,” the Foreign Ministry said Friday. The day before, ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters China would continue to push for a peaceful settlement of the issue through “diplomatic means.” Russia has also been reluctant to agree new sanctions but has taken a harder line on Iran in recent weeks.
The United States and its allies suspect Iran is secretly trying to develop the atomic bomb, but Tehran says its nuclear drive is purely for civilian energy purposes, and that it has the right to nuclear technology.
When asked, Jalili indicated Iran had no new proposals it planned to bring to the negotiating table, saying Tehran’s position was already clear.
Obama said earlier this week that he wants a fourth round of UN sanctions agreed upon within weeks, and later Friday said Washington will continue to crank up the pressure on Iran.
