VIENNA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China supports Iran's principled position of continuing to seek resolution of the Iran nuclear issue through negotiations, said Wang Qun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations in Vienna, on Tuesday.
Wang made the remarks as talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), resumed here on Tuesday after the negotiators returned from consultations in their respective capitals. Wang is the head of the Chinese delegation to the Vienna talks.
Citing the package proposed by the United States and the E3 (the United Kingdom, France and Germany) and the recent U.S. sanction waiver on Iran's civil nuclear program as "a positive step" toward a final deal, Wang said all other parties should continue to listen more to Iran's views on the package and address Iran's legitimate rights and reasonable demands.
He also expressed the hope that Iran will "formally come up with its written feedbacks on the proposed package for discussion by all parties."
The Chinese envoy said that in general, the ongoing Vienna talks are "making positive progress" toward the final settlement of the Iran nuclear issue.
He urged all parties to cherish the hard-won progress achieved in the past negotiations, focus on pending issues such as the lifting of sanctions and economic guarantee, further expand consensus, and strive to reach an early agreement.
"China agrees to enhance the sense of urgency during the talks, but it's not constructive to set a deadline for the negotiations," Wang said, calling for the participants to further strengthen their political will and show goodwill and flexibility in the final stage of the nuclear talks.
Wang urged the parties to focus on the issue of sanctions relief, which is Iran's primary concern as well as an important concern of China.
"The United States, as the originator of the current Iran nuclear crisis, should lift all related illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran and third parties, including China, in order to regain the trust of the international community, while Iran should again comprehensively fulfill its obligations on this basis," Wang said, adding that the sanctions lifting, instead of a mere statement, should be implemented through concrete measures.
Any solution to the Iran nuclear issue must address China's legitimate concerns, he said, urging the United States to honor its commitments, respect China's legitimate rights and properly address the issue of sanctions against Chinese entities and individuals.
Wang stressed that dialogue and negotiation are the only way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue, and that China will work with all other parties to promote early breakthroughs of the negotiations.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (namely the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, plus Germany), together with the European Union. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the pact in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, which prompted the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments.
Since April 2021, Iran and the other five remaining signatories to the JCPOA -- China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and Germany -- have held rounds of talks in Vienna to revive the deal. ■
