Iran has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program as a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Beijing has said.
China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Sun Lei, made the statement to the General Assembly on Thursday.
“As a non-nuclear-weapon State party to the Treaty on the NPT, Iran should honor its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, and its legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy should be respected,” Sun said in a plenary meeting on the use of the veto.
The debate followed a vote in September in which China and Russia blocked a resolution submitted by the US to extend the mandate of a UN sanctions watchdog panel on Iran sanctions.
The monitoring body was reinstated as part of the ‘snapback’ mechanism invoked in August by the UK, France, and Germany (the E3), aimed at reimposing sanctions. China and Russia consider the snapback legally invalid and maintain that the sanctions were not restored.
According to Sun, China used its veto to “uphold a correct understanding of right and wrong,” support a political settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, address non-proliferation concerns, and promote long-term peace and stability in the Middle East.
The stalemate over Iran’s nuclear program stems from Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and subsequent failures by the E3 to exhaust diplomatic options under the plan before invoking the snapback, the diplomat said.
Under the 2015 agreement, Iran agreed to curtail its enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief. President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018 during his first term and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
In February, the US and Israel attacked Iran in what Trump described as an effort to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Russia condemned the attack and maintains that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful.
President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the annual Valdai forum on Thursday, said a Russian proposal to transfer Iran’s enriched uranium to Russia remains on the table. The US initially agreed to this but later toughened its position and refused, he said.
“If all the participants in this process ultimately conclude that this would help defuse tensions in any way, we are ready to engage in that work,” Putin stated.
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