A Chinese envoy to the UN on Tuesday called for extensive efforts from all parties concerned to revive the Iran nuclear talks on the basis of positive results gained so far.
The United Nations Security Council held an open meeting on non-proliferation on Tuesday at the UN headquarters in New York City, focusing on the Iranian nuclear issue.
Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the meeting that for some time, Iran has taken a constructive position on the nuclear issue, continuously released positive signals, and repeatedly expressed its willingness to restart the Iranian nuclear negotiations.
The European Union and the United Kingdom, France, and Germany also responded positively. Not long ago, a new round of dialogue was held with Iran. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency successfully visited Iran last month. The two sides continued to cooperate on the outstanding issues of Iranian nuclear-related safeguards supervision, Fu noted.
Properly handling the Iranian nuclear issue through political and diplomatic means is crucial to maintaining the international non-proliferation system and peace and stability in the Middle East, he said.
"(All parties should work to) maintain the effectiveness of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, instead of scrapping it and starting all over again. The JCPOA agreement was reached after more than ten years of arduous negotiations and was approved by the Security Council. It is still the best choice today and the greatest common denominator for all parties to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. All parties made a lot of efforts to resume compliance in 2021 and 2022 and were close to reaching a consensus on the final text. All parties should value the above negotiation results," Fu said.
The Chinese envoy said it is necessary to create a good political atmosphere and promote mutual trust and understanding. Sanctions, pressure, and confrontation should not be imposed at will, and the lack of mutual trust between the parties involved in the Iranian nuclear issue, especially the United States and Iran, is the main obstacle to starting the resumption of talks, he said.
"As the initiator of the Iranian nuclear crisis, the United States should assume historical responsibility and demonstrate political sincerity to promote the resumption of talks. It should not exert extreme pressure again and escalate the tensions. Other parties should also take proactive actions to promote dialogue and contact, continue to accumulate mutual trust and create favorable conditions for the resumption of talks. The Security Council's rapid reinstatement of sanctions mechanism should not be a tool for individual countries to intimidate and pressure others and engage in microphone diplomacy. The practice of threatening to activate the mechanism at will is not constructive and will only erode mutual trust and hinder the political settlement process," Fu said.
Fu stressed that as a permanent member of the Security Council and a party to the JCPOA agreement, China will continue to uphold an objective and fair position, maintain close contact with all parties, and actively promote the political settlement process of the Iranian nuclear issue. At the same time, he added, China will also firmly safeguard its legitimate security and legal rights and interests.
Chinese envoy calls for all-inclusive efforts to revive Iran nuclear talks
