Beijing, Mar. 14, (dpa/GNA) – China, Russia and Iran are calling for an end to “all unilateral illegal sanctions” against Tehran amid growing tensions around its expanding nuclear programme.
The three countries also stressed that “relevant parties” should strive to eliminate the causes of the current situation, Chinese state television reported on Friday after their deputy foreign ministers met in Beijing.
According to the report, Beijing and Moscow welcomed Tehran’s assertion of the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme and its abstention from seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
China also published a paper with five proposals for resolving “the Iranian nuclear issue,” many of which are likely to work in Tehran’s favour.
The host of the consultations, China, had urged in advance that all sides should avoid escalating the situation. Negotiations should take place as soon as possible, said Foreign Office spokesman Mao Ning.
The dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme has recently come to a head amid reports of Tehran expanding its activities.
While Tehran has long insisted that the programme is for peaceful purposes only, the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has in recent months ramped up production of near weapons-grade uranium.
There have recently also been repeated statements from Iranian politicians, notably in relation to the conflict with Israel, that the country should perhaps develop nuclear weapons after all.
The Trump factor
According to the New York Times, US President Donald Trump suggested last week that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had reached a critical juncture.
Trump said he had written to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, offering to resume negotiations on the issue.
At the same time, he warned that the country would have to decide to restrict the programme or risk a military attack. To increase the pressure, the US imposed further sanctions on Thursday, including against the Oil Minister Mohsen Paknedjad.
Mixed signals from Tehran
Khamenei has so far rejected negotiations with Washington, but the Iranian government has sent mixed signals.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, for example, told the state-run daily newspaper Iran on Thursday that his country was considering holding indirect nuclear talks with the US government.
These are conceivable in a neutral country like Oman, according to Araghchi. Oman has mediated between the two hostile states on several occasions in the past.
Meanwhile, Iran is caught in a serious financial crisis due to the sanctions. According to observers, a resumption of nuclear negotiations and the hope of a lifting of sanctions is the only way out.
Iran’s government is therefore increasingly relying on Russia and China in its dispute with the West, as relations with previous mediators in Europe are too strained.
GNA