A diplomatic solution is the best way to address the Iran nuclear issue, Beijing said yesterday after the UN Security Council issued a statement on Wednesday demanding that Teheran suspend uranium enrichment work within 30 days.

"There's still room for resolving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations and the international community should not abandon these efforts," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

"We hope relevant parties will remain calm and patient to create a sound atmosphere for the settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue," he said.

Qin added that China is open to any suggestions or methods conducive to the settlement of the issue through negotiations.

He expressed hope that the UN statement would help strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In New York, China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said the statement sends a strong message in support of the authority of the IAEA and diplomatic solutions.

He said the resolution, adopted after long discussion, demonstrates a common approach by all the UN Security Council member countries.

The statement is the first time the powerful UN body has directly urged Teheran to clear suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons.

Diplomats portrayed the statement, which is not legally binding, as a first, modest, step towards compelling Iran to make clear that its programme is peaceful.

The Security Council could eventually impose economic sanctions, though Russia and China say they oppose such tough measures.

Iran yesterday rejected the UN Security Council demand.

"We will not, definitely, suspend again the enrichment," Iran's ambassador to the Vienna-based IAEA, Aliasghar Soltaniyeh, said.

Earlier, Iran's UN Ambassador Javad Zarif said that "pressure and threats do not work with Iran. Iran is a country that is allergic to pressure and to threats and intimidation."

He added that "Iran insists on its right to have access to nuclear technology for explicitly peaceful purposes. We will not abandon that claim to our legitimate right."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the UN statement an "important diplomatic step" that showed the international community's concern about Iran. The statement "sends an unmistakable message to Iran that its efforts to conceal its nuclear programme and evade its international obligations are unacceptable," she said.

The document was adopted by consensus and without a vote after a flurry of negotiations among the five veto-wielding council members.

Foreign ministers from the five council members and Germany were scheduled to meet in Berlin yesterday to discuss strategy on Iran.

Diplomats would not say exactly what would happen if Iran does not comply with the statement within 30 days, but suggested that would be discussed by the foreign ministers in Berlin.

(China Daily 03/31/2006 page1)