China ‘opposes’ European sanctions over Iran nuclear programme

China said on Friday it “opposes” invoking fresh sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme after Britain, France and Germany told the United Nations they would reimpose them if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August.

China “opposes invoking” sanctions and “believes that it does not help parties build trust and bridge differences and is not conducive to the diplomatic effort for the early resumption of talks”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.

Iran said Thursday it was working with China and Russia to stop the snapback of European sanctions, which were eased after a 2015 deal in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions.

On Wednesday, foreign ministers from the E3 group — Britain, France and Germany — threatened to do so in a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council.

In the letter, the E3 group said they were “committed to us(ing) all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon”.

“We will try to prevent it,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state TV on Thursday.

“If this does not work and they apply it, we have tools to respond. We will discuss them in due course.”

Last month, Araghchi sent a letter to the UN saying the European countries did not have the legal right to restore sanctions.

“Any moves taken by the Security Council now should help reach new agreements in talks, instead of the opposite,” Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin added on Friday.

AFP

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