Putting pressure on Iran won't help solve its nuclear issue: Chinese envoy

VIENNA - A Chinese envoy said here on Thursday that putting pressure on Iran would not help solve its nuclear issue and would only backfire.

Wang Chang, deputy head of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna, said this after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board meeting passed a resolution to censure Tehran.

At the meeting of the IAEA board of governors earlier in the day, China voted against the resolution proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States to criticize Iran on nuclear safeguards issues, according to Wang.

Wang stressed that China is opposed to relevant countries putting pressure on Iran with the resolution.

"Iran's outstanding safeguards issues are essentially bilateral issues between the IAEA secretariat and Iran, and they should be resolved through dialogue and consultation between the two sides," he said.

He added that China is firmly opposed to relevant countries pushing for the resolution to create confrontation and politicize the IAEA, especially when Iran is strengthening cooperation with the agency.

China urges relevant parties to take concrete actions to support the IAEA in boosting cooperation with Iran and bridging differences through dialogue, he said.

The Chinese envoy also stressed that negotiations on reviving the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are at a critical stage.

China calls on all parties in the Iran nuclear talks to avoid actions that may undermine the negotiations and to create necessary conditions and a favorable atmosphere for an early agreement, Wang said.

Iran signed the JCPOA in 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for removing the international sanctions on the country. However, the United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to reduce its nuclear commitments under the deal.

The talks on reviving the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in early August.