Nuclear non-proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London told The Straits Times that China, previously often a 'spoiler' in the talks, has been playing a more active role of late.
17 April 2008: Straits Times
By Sim Chi Yin, China Correspondent
SHANGHAI - CHINA yesterday raised hopes of bringing Iran into the nuclear negotiations involving the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany, though no concrete date was set.
The remarks came as the so-called '5+1' meeting debated whether to enhance a package of sweeteners to entice Teheran to give up its nuclear work.
Briefing reporters after the closed-door talks, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei said China 'very much hopes Iran can join the discussions to resolve the issue'.
'That is also what we hope will happen in the future,' he said.
After walking out of an earlier round of talks with Britain, France and Germany in 2005, Teheran has repeatedly rebuffed Western governments' demands that it stop enriching uranium, which can be used as fuel for power plants or - as the West fears - provide material for bombs if refined much further.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest exporter of oil, insists it wants nuclear power to generate electricity.
The Security Council has since 2006 imposed three rounds of limited sanctions on Teheran for refusing to stop enriching uranium, with the latest set passed last month.
China has long advocated talks over sanctions, but Mr He, who chaired yesterday's talks, did not offer a timeframe for Iran's return to the negotiating table.
He said the six parties would continue to hammer out a plan to proffer Iran, which will include promises of nuclear energy cooperation, economic cooperation and political confidence-building steps.
Mr He said: 'We agreed on the main content of a plan to restart negotiations, but not all the problems have been resolved.'
Declining to provide details of the plan, Mr He urged Iran to 'respond positively' to the six-nation proposal.
His call came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made out-ofcharacter remarks in Teheran yesterday, saying that Iran was ready for negotiations on nuclear and other issues as long as these did not violate the country's rights, wire agency Reuters reported.
That would appear to roll back recent moves by Teheran to up the ante, including an announcement last week that it had expanded its nuclear work.
Last month, Teheran ruled out scaling back its atomic work in return for goodies, and declared that it would discuss its uranium- enrichment programme only with the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Yesterday's vice-ministerial-level meeting in downtown Shanghai also involved the United States, Russia, Britain, France and an European Union representative.
China, which has won praise for facilitating six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, was hosting the Iran session for the first time.
Nuclear non-proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London told The Straits Times that China, previously often a 'spoiler' in the talks, has been playing a more active role of late.
But with Iran as its third biggest source of crude oil imports, Beijing has to manage a delicate balancing act.
Iran expert Ji Kaiyun of China's Southwest University said: 'China has to be friendly to Iran and yet live up to its international responsibilities...It plays a difficult but constructive role.'
