Top China envoy: Normal trade with Iran stays
Source: Agencies |
May 20, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
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A NEW round of sanctions against Iran, if approved, was not intended to harm normal trade with Tehran, China's United Nations Ambassador Li Baodong said yesterday.
"The purpose of sanctions is to bring the Iranian side to the negotiating table," Li said in New York after the US delegation circulated the draft sanctions resolution to the 15-nation UN Security Council.
"The sanctions are not for punishing innocent people and should not harm normal trade.
"Circulating a draft resolution on Iran does not mean the door of diplomacy is closed, and we believe that dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations are the best way to address the Iranian nuclear issue.
The draft was circulated after an agreement was reached among the five permanent members of the council - China, Britain, France, Russia and the US - plus Germany in the wake of talks since April.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would:
Ban Iran from "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons;"
Freeze assets of nuclear-related companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard;
Bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining; and
Prohibit Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons.
American UN Ambassador Susan Rice said the resolution gave "greater teeth" to existing sanctions.
She said it would add strong new measures to intensify pressure on Iran to resolve concerns that its nuclear program was peaceful and not aimed at nuclear weapons.
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the final draft was acceptable because it is "focused adequately on nonproliferation matters" and did not cause "humanitarian damage" or create problems for normal economic activities in Iran and the country's economic relations with other countries.
Iran yesterday dismissed the draft resolution as being "illegitimate."
Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh, a top adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the draft proposed by the US was a reactionary response to a deal in which Iran agreed to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey.
"The draft resolution being discussed at the Security Council has no legitimacy at all," the official IRNA news agency quoted Samareh as saying after a Cabinet meeting.
"The purpose of sanctions is to bring the Iranian side to the negotiating table," Li said in New York after the US delegation circulated the draft sanctions resolution to the 15-nation UN Security Council.
"The sanctions are not for punishing innocent people and should not harm normal trade.
"Circulating a draft resolution on Iran does not mean the door of diplomacy is closed, and we believe that dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations are the best way to address the Iranian nuclear issue.
The draft was circulated after an agreement was reached among the five permanent members of the council - China, Britain, France, Russia and the US - plus Germany in the wake of talks since April.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would:
Ban Iran from "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons;"
Freeze assets of nuclear-related companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard;
Bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining; and
Prohibit Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons.
American UN Ambassador Susan Rice said the resolution gave "greater teeth" to existing sanctions.
She said it would add strong new measures to intensify pressure on Iran to resolve concerns that its nuclear program was peaceful and not aimed at nuclear weapons.
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the final draft was acceptable because it is "focused adequately on nonproliferation matters" and did not cause "humanitarian damage" or create problems for normal economic activities in Iran and the country's economic relations with other countries.
Iran yesterday dismissed the draft resolution as being "illegitimate."
Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh, a top adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the draft proposed by the US was a reactionary response to a deal in which Iran agreed to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey.
"The draft resolution being discussed at the Security Council has no legitimacy at all," the official IRNA news agency quoted Samareh as saying after a Cabinet meeting.
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