US Sanctions On Iran Ineffective: Chinese FM Spokesman

Beijing, Jan 21, IRNA -- US sanctions on Iran have been ineffective in resolving Tehran's nuclear issues and they would even further deteriorate the current situation, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Liu Weimin said here on Thursday night. Weimin expressed concern over the escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf, saying that the situation could pose problems for resolving Iran's nuclear issues. Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson added that disagreements over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program should be solved through dialog and diplomacy. 'Using sanctions, imposing pressure and threatening one another with force not only do not help solve the problem, but they would lead to further deterioration of the situation,' the diplomat said. Liu echoed earlier comments by Premier Wen Jiabao, who told reporters in the Qatari capital, Doha late Wednesday that Iran's peaceful nuclear issues should be resolved through 'peaceful means.' Iran and the 5+1 Group (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany) held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010 and in the Turkish city of Istanbul last January. The recently enacted US sanctions impose financial penalties against foreign banks that do business with Iran's central bank, which is responsible for most of the country's oil deals. The US and European efforts to tighten economic sanctions on Iran to deter its nuclear program have shaken oil markets and prompted concern over the fact that reduction in supply could hurt the global economy. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right to uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed the West's demands as politically-motivated and illogical, stressing those sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path./end