China Rebuffs US Over Iran Sanctions

People's Republic of China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin. China has opposed US unilateral sanctions against Iran., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

China rebuffs US over Iran sanctions

Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:56AM GMT
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China has reiterated its opposition to the US-led unilateral sanctions against Iran despite efforts by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to woo Beijing leaders for the imposition of an oil embargo on Tehran.

"It is unreasonable for a country to impose its domestic laws as overriding international law and to demand that other countries enforce it,” China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Liu added that China as “a major developing country” would continue importing Iranian oil to meet its “reasonable demand for energy.”

"We have repeatedly stated that China has normal and transparent energy cooperation with Iran, and that does not violate Security Council resolutions," the Chinese spokesman stressed.

Liu further said that Beijing rejects linking Iran's nuclear program to the trade transactions with the Islamic Republic.

"China believes that normal energy cooperation and reasonable demand are unrelated to the Iran nuclear issue and should not be affected," Liu said.

Iran exported about 622,000 barrels of oil per day to China in November, maintaining its place as the third largest crude supplier to the East Asian country.

The United States recently announced plans to boycott Iran's Central Bank over the country's nuclear program in an apparent effort to punish foreign companies and banks that conduct business with the Iranian financial institution.

The US-led sanctions are ultimately designed to target Iran's oil exports by discouraging refiners across the world from paying for the country's crude.

On Wednesday, the US treasury secretary planned to persuade Beijing to collaborate in imposing an embargo on Iran's oil exports, but China gave no sign it would relent in its opposition to American sanctions.

The Chinese spokesman also called for further cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.

“We hope Iran and the IAEA will stress cooperation and earnestly carry out the safeguards and clarify pending issues in the Iranian nuclear program as soon as possible," Liu stressed.

The US-led anti-Iran efforts, as well as unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran's energy and financial sectors by Britain and Canada came after the nuclear agency issued a report on the Iranian nuclear program early in November, falsely implying that Tehran may be seeking a military diversion in its nuclear program.

Despite the widely publicized claims by the US, Israel and some of their European allies that Iran's nuclear program may potentially involve a weaponize diversion, Iran insists on its civilian nature, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and an IAEA member it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.