Reuters: China said on Tuesday it backed a European plan to resolve the Iranian nuclear stand-off and urged Iran to respond positively while Russia insisted the threat of force on Tehran was not an option.

Reuters: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said negotiation was the key to solving the Iran nuclear stand-off with the West and said neither Moscow nor Beijing would support a U.N. resolution that is an “excuse” for force.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, May 16 – Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ambassadors of Russia and China in Tehran that the Islamic Republic would not forgo its nuclear “rights”, the government-owned news agency Mehr reported on Tuesday.

Los Angeles Times: Iran should halt its uranium enrichment activities and all related research and development, a senior Chinese official said Monday, even as he advised the United States to drop its push for sanctions in order to ease the nuclear dispute.

Iran Focus: London, May 16 – United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Iran on Monday to cooperate with European countries that were seeking to find a diplomatic solution to the international standoff over Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons activities.

Reuters: The foreign ministers of Russia and China met in Beijing on Tuesday where how to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program is likely to be high on the agenda.