Reuters: China called on Iran on Tuesday to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency which said the Islamic Republic was hampering its work in the country by barring some of its inspectors.
BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) – China called on Iran on Tuesday to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency which said the Islamic Republic was hampering its work in the country by barring some of its inspectors.
An IAEA report, obtained by Reuters in Vienna on Monday, said Iran was blocking some of its inspectors with Iran-specific experience.
The watchdog also voiced continued concern about possible activities in Iran to develop a nuclear-armed missile and urged Tehran to step up cooperation with the IAEA and grant access to relevant sites, equipment and personnel “without further delay”.
“We have noted the IAEA report,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
“We hope that Iran and the agency can fully cooperate, and establish the trust of the international community in the peaceful nature of their nuclear plants,” she added.
“We hope that related parties increase their diplomatic efforts and resume talks and negotiations as soon as possible to seek an effective route to a comprehensive, long-term and appropriate resolution to the Iran nuclear issue.”
China has backed U.N. Security Council resolutions pressing Iran to abandon disputed nuclear activities that Western governments say are aimed at giving Iran the means to make nuclear weapons. Iran disputes that.
But Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to China, the world’s second-biggest consumer of oil after the United States, and Beijing has close economic ties. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard)
