January 4, 2013 (TSR) – China has censured the United States for the imposition of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing on Friday that her country “has consistently opposed” sanctions against Iran over its peaceful nuclear energy program.
She renewed China’s call for the resumption of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany — about Tehran’s nuclear program.
“We have always seen negotiations and cooperation as the best way to solve the Iranian nuclear issue,” Hua said.
The new sanctions are included in the $633-billion military bill for 2013, which US President Barack Obama signed into law on Wednesday night.
Also on Friday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said the Islamic Republic has agreed to resume talks with six major world powers about the country’s nuclear energy program this month.
Iran and the six major world powers have held several rounds of talks with the main focus being Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
