China has made clear to the US and four other world powers that it dislikes a proposed ban on new investments in Iran’s energy sector as part of a new round of UN sanctions, diplomats said on Sunday.
After months of delay, China reluctantly agreed to join the other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany — a group often referred to as the “P5-plus-one” — in New York last week to begin drafting a sanctions resolution against Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Chinese UN Ambassador Li Baodong (李保東) indicated his displeasure at the proposals affecting Iran’s energy sector during the three-hour meeting with his US, British, French, German and Russian counterparts on Thursday.
“In general, the Chinese ambassador did not want to discuss specifics of the text,” a diplomat said, referring to a US sanctions proposal that is the basis of talks among the six. “The first meeting in New York was for an initial exchange of views on the US draft.”
Another envoy confirmed his comments.
The Chinese did convey the impression that Beijing had problems with the proposals regarding Iran’s energy sector, a diplomat said.
“It was perceived that the Chinese do not agree with the energy proposals,” one of the diplomats said.
Those proposals include a ban on new investments in Iran’s energy industry, several diplomats have said. The US draft does not include a call for import or export restrictions on Iran’s oil and gas industries, as some in the US and Israel had hoped for, the diplomats said.
Li told reporters after last week’s three-hour meeting of the six powers that it was “a very constructive negotiation.”
He said the group planned to meet again this week.
Several diplomats familiar with talks said the delegations remain far from agreement on a fourth round of UN sanctions on Iran. They are expected to gather again in New York in the middle of this week to continue their discussions.
It was not clear whether the Russians also disliked the idea of banning new investments in Iran’s energy sector. Such a measure would have no impact on the Bushehr Nuclear Reactor that Russia is building in the Islamic Republic.
Russian officials have told the US that they also have problems with the US draft, diplomats said. Moscow wanted any new sanctions to focus on Iran’s nuclear and missile industries, as three previous rounds of UN sanctions have.
Iran, a major oil and gas exporter, said its nuclear ambitions were limited to generating electricity and refuses to suspend its enrichment program. The UN Security Council has passed five resolutions ordering it stop enriching uranium.
The US draft was agreed upon with the three European powers and passed on to Russia and China a month ago. It targets the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, shipping and other firms, and calls for a ban on the establishment of new Iranian banks abroad and new foreign bank branches in Iran.
Although the US and European delegations would like a resolution adopted this month, diplomats said negotiations could continues at least until June because China and Russia are expected to work to dilute any proposed punitive steps before handing a draft resolution to the Security Council.
The issue may also come up on the sidelines of US President Barack Obama’s summit on nuclear security in Washington yesterday and today, which Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and dozens of other leaders plan to attend.
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