Washington, April 13 (Inditop.com/AKI) China has agreed to work with the US to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear programme that western countries believe is to build atomic bombs.
Chinese President Hu Jintao held a private meeting with US President Barack Obama Monday before the start of a two-day Nuclear Security Summit, with the focus on Iran’s opposition to the nuclear nonproliferation agreement.
“The Chinese very clearly share our concern about the Iranian nuclear programme,” Jeff Bader, senior director for Asian affairs for the National Security Council, said in a conference call. “They share our overall goal of preservation of the nonproliferation regime.”
Obama and Hu in the meeting agreed that Iran must meet its nonproliferation obligations, Bader added. The two also said they are instructing their delegations to work on a sanctions resolution.
“The resolution will make clear to Iran the costs of pursuing a nuclear programme that violates Iran’s obligations and responsibilities,” said Bader.
A spokesman for the Chinese delegation said in a statement that the two countries “share the same overall goal on the Iranian nuclear issue”.
“China hopes that various parties will continue to step up diplomatic efforts and actively seek effective ways to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations,” the spokesman added.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has the power to block a vote on resolution to impose international sanctions on Iran.
Iran, which was not invited to the Washington summit, brushed aside the news and Monday urged the UN to launch an investigation into the aims of Western military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Besides Iran, North Korea was also not invited to the summit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped plans to attend the summit, reportedly because of concern that Muslim states have planned to press Israel to open its own nuclear facilities to international inspection.
