Iran, China Stress Maintenance of Close Ties
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian and Chinese officials emphasized the need for maintaining high-level relations between Tehran and Beijing as a priority in the foreign policy of the two nations.
In a Saturday meeting between Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Morteza Sarmadi and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi in Beijing, the two officials placed particular emphasis on the policy of consolidating high-level relations between the two countries.
The Iranian diplomat said it was a foreign policy priority for Iran to cooperate with China to help provide peace in Asia and the world, and expressed the hope that the upcoming talks between the Islamic Republic and the six world powers would be held in a cooperative atmosphere.
Yang, for his part, praised Tehran’s efforts to pursue a constructive approach towards settlement of the West’s standoff over Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, and expressed his country's opposition to western sanctions imposed on Iran.
Top diplomats from Iran and the G5+1, also known as P5+1, which includes the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as Germany are to meet in Geneva on October 15 and 16 to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had announced earlier that world powers negotiating with Tehran over its nuclear program must come up with new proposals before talks in Geneva.
"The previous P5+1 plan given to Iran belongs to history and they must enter talks with a new point of view," he said last week.
Zarif has recently said that he and his negotiating team are going to offer a new set of proposals during the upcoming talks with the six world powers in Geneva.
“I will put forward a new plan to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities during the next round of talks with the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France and Germany),” Zarif said, without elaborating on the contents of the new plan.
The United States and the European Union have imposed illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran under the pretext that Iran's nuclear energy program may include a military component.
Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that numerous inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have invariably failed to find any diversion towards military purposes.
