China concerned by Iran, yet t

By Zhang Wen

China expressed concern Thursday over the development of Iran's nuclear issue, saying the door of diplomacy is still open while facing mounting demands from Western powers to push for new sanctions on Tehran.

"China has concerns about the development of Iran's nuclear issue," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in a regular press conference Thursday. "Dialogue and negotiation through diplomatic means is the best way to seek a proper solution to the problem."

Russia, the United States, France, Britain, China and Germany have been putting pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, amid fears that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.

Of the six countries, China continues to resist imposing fresh sanctions while Moscow slowly appears to be coming over to the other countries' tougher stance on the issue.

However, China is now facing more and more pressure from various sides on pushing the new sanctions.

Canada, which chairs the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, called on China on Wednesday to put more pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions.

"There comes a point beyond which there needs to be action, there needs to be engagement," Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told Reuters in an interview.

"There doesn't seem to be, on behalf of the Iranians, a level of cooperation that would (lead us) to say the diplomatic venue is the correct one to follow. So therefore I would seriously believe that China could play a leadership role here."

The US is also pushing "aggressive sanctions" to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

US President Barack Obama said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday that the US is going after sanctions because "the Iranian government has been more concerned about preventing their people from exercising their democratic and human rights than trying to solve this problem diplomatically."

US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman also said that the US looks to China to support strong sanctions in a speech at Tsinghua University Thursday.

The Times of London reported meanwhile that there is speculation that Iran has been delivering tons of weaponry to the Taliban.

The reports come as General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, warned the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran also provided a base for Al Qaeda operatives.

According to He Yafei, China's ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva, China has been talking to Iran constantly and urging the country to agree to a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a first step to solving the nuclear issue.

But he also emphasized Beijing wants "every avenue" explored before considering sanctions.

"On the Iran issue, China has its own interests and principles, and now China cannot and will not blindly defend Iran, but cannot and will not give up its own standpoints either. Now China is facing pressure from many sides, and is also becoming more and more crucial to the development of the situation. How to handle this is a test of the wisdom of China's diplomacy," said Ni Feng, a researcher at the Insti-tute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Meanwhile, Scottish newspaper The Herald said Wednesday that hundreds of powerful US "bunker-buster" bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean ahead of a possible attack on Iran.

It also quoted experts as saying that the bombs are being put in place for an assault on Iran's nuclear facilities.