China considers supporting IAEA on Iran – minister

Reuters: China is "in principle" considering supporting an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution demanding Iran immediately mothball a uranium enrichment site it hid for years, a vice foreign minister said. BEIJING, Nov 26 (Reuters) – China is "in principle" considering supporting an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution demanding Iran immediately mothball a uranium enrichment site it hid for years, a vice foreign minister said.

He Yafei told Reuters on Thursday the resolution, to be voted on by the 35-nation IAEA governing board later this week, was meant as a signal to Iran to respond to a nuclear dispute proposal.

"We hope that the IAEA (board) can send a signal that Iran should indeed respond to the IAEA proposal as soon as possible. At the same time, we hope that this issue can be resolved through consultation," He said.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)