China urges early talk between IAEA, Iran

BEIJING - China has urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran to solve the outstanding problems regarding the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue at an early date.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the comments at a regular news briefing on Monday when asked about the disagreement between IAEA and Iran.

As a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy but should also comply with the relevant obligations, Hong said.

China has always maintained that dialogue and cooperation is the only correct solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. Therefore, China has actively taken part in the dialogue process between Iran and six world powers, and supported the IAEA to strengthen cooperation with Iran, Hong said.

"Relevant parties should give priority to the diplomatic solution in a flexible and pragmatic manner, seeking common ground while shelving differences," he said.

"We also hope the new round of talks on the issue can be launched at an early date and promote the dialogue to achieve progress, exploring a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution to the issue step by step," Hong said.

An IAEA report said last week that Iran has expanded its potential capacity to refine uranium in an underground site by doubling its centrifuges from 1,064 to 2,140. The report added it has cleansed another site where the agency suspects the country conducted explosive experiments linked to production of nuclear weapons.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi responded that the recent report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran's Parchin Military Base lacks "technical significance," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.