Special report: Iran
China and Russia urge Iran to toe UN line http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2043396,00.html
Staff and agencies Monday March 26, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
The presidents of Russia and China today increased the international pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, calling on the country to abide by UN security council resolutions on the issue.
The joint statement agreed during talks between Vladimir Putin and the visiting Hu Jintao in Moscow, comes two days after Russia and China joined other security council members in voting for new sanctions against Iran. Diplomatic efforts also continued elsewhere, with the EU reiterating an offer to resume negotiations and officials in Iran also stressing their desire to keep talking.
The Russian and Chinese leaders said their nations were ready to "search for a comprehensive, long-term and mutually acceptable solution to the Iranian nuclear problem".
"Russia and China also urge Iran to undertake all necessary and constructive steps to carry out the appropriate resolutions of the United Nations security council and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," the declaration said.
Both nations believed the crisis should be resolved "exclusively through peaceful means and negotiations", the statement added.
On Saturday, security council members meeting in New York agreed new sanctions, including the banning of Iranian arms exports and the freezing of assets belonging to 28 people and organisations involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. Iran rejected the sanctions and later announced a partial suspension of cooperation with the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
The sanctions were drawn up by the council's five permanent members - Russia, China, the US, Britain and France - along with Germany.
Today, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, renewed an offer from the six countries to negotiate with Iran in a phone call with Tehran's top atomic negotiator.
Ali Larijani had accepted "an invitation for future contacts" with Mr Solana, an EU spokeswoman said.
Iran stressed it did not want to escalate tensions. "Iran is not after adventurism. It does not want to violate international measures," said Kazem Jalali, the spokesman for the Iranian parliament's committee on foreign policy and national security.
"We are a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and we don't want to make the situation more complicated," he said.
As permanent members, Russia and China both hold a veto in the security council, and have thus far resisted a US-led push for much harsher sanctions.
While the new measures agreed on Saturday are relatively modest, they send a further signal to Iran about international feeling over its nuclear ambitions.
Iran insists its nuclear efforts are directed purely towards civilian power uses. The US and some of its allies fear Tehran will use uranium produced by enrichment processes to build atomic weapons.
The council imposed its first set of sanctions in December, but Iran responded by expanding enrichment.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007