China urges parties of Iran nuclear issue to seize window of opportunity

A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday called on all parties of Iran nuclear issue to seize the window of opportunity and solve the problem through diplomatic negotiations at an early date.

Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the appeal at a Security Council meeting on the latest work of 1737 Committee, which is tasked with monitoring a set of sanctions against Iran established by Resolution 1737 and subsequent Council resolutions.

"China believes that the sanction itself is not the purpose of the relevant Security Council resolutions," Wang said, adding that tightening up the sanction is not the criterion for the work of the Committee.

Although the negotiations are faced with many difficulties, he said, reaching a comprehensive agreement on time is the aspiration of the international community, represents the general trend and serves the common and long-term interests of all parties.

"Therefore, the Committee and the Panel should fulfill the duties in a steadily and orderly way, contribute to the international efforts to negotiate a solution to this issue, and refrain from any move to disrupt the negotiation process against the spirit of the resolution," Wang said.

Solving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations will "safeguard the international nuclear non-proliferation system, contribute to peace and tranquillity in the Middle East, and offer beneficial experience of negotiated settlement to major hotspot issues," the envoy said, noting that twists and difficulties during the process are unavoidable.

Recently, the six parties, namely the U.S., UK, Russia, China, France and Germany, plus Iran have held intensive consultations and negotiations with an eye on the final deadline, Wang said.

"China believes that the negotiations have reached a critical point," said Wang, urging the parties to seize the current important window of opportunity, strengthen the political will, mobilize favorable factors and continue working to meet halfway, and make a political decision as soon as possible so as to jointly run the most difficult and also the "last kilometer" of the marathon.

"In this way, a comprehensive agreement that is equitable, balanced, mutually beneficial and win-win can be reached at an early date," he said.

The ambassador expressed China's support for the continued positive role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in resolving this issue. "We hope the agency will strengthen the cooperation with Iran and gradually resolve the relevant pending issues," he said.

"China is a responsible party in the talks and has always behaved in objective and impartial way," he said. "We have made positive contribution towards resolving the central and difficult issues of the negotiations."

The Chinese envoy said his country will continue its constructive participation in the negotiation and along with other parties, finish the marathon talk on the Iran nuclear issue as soon as possible.

"In this way we can contribute China's wisdom and strength towards a comprehensive, thorough and long-term solution to this issue," he said.