China, Gulf states urge Iran to work with IAEA
Nations voice concern over UN agency's report saying Iran is barring inspectors from facilities
China called on Iran on Tuesday to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency which said the Islamic Republic was hampering its work in the country by barring some of its inspectors.
An IAEA report, obtained by Reuters in Vienna on Monday, said Iran was blocking some of its inspectors with Iran-specific experience.
"We have noted the IAEA report," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
"We hope that Iran and the agency can fully cooperate, and establish the trust of the international community in the peaceful nature of their nuclear plants," she added.
"We hope that related parties increase their diplomatic efforts and resume talks and negotiations as soon as possible to seek an effective route to a comprehensive, long-term and appropriate resolution to the Iran nuclear issue."
China has backed UN Security Council resolutions pressing Iran to abandon disputed nuclear activities that Western governments say are aimed at giving Iran the means to make nuclear weapons. Iran disputes that.
But Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to China, the world's second-biggest consumer of oil after the United States, and Beijing has close economic ties.
In a related development, six Arab nations across the Persian Gulf from Iran issued a statement Tuesday calling on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, saying they wanted Tehran to adhere to the principles of international law and help efforts to make the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction.
The statement was issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a loose political and economic alliance that groups Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
The statement's reference to a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction appeared to reflect fears by the six nations over Iran's possible development of nuclear weapons.
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