Russia, China stress diplomatic solution for Iranˈs nuclear issue

Moscow, Feb 23, IRNA -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized resolution of Iranˈs nuclear issue through a diplomatic approach. Speaking at a joint press conference in Moscow on Friday, Lavrov asserted that Moscow and Beijing have consensus that all Middle Eastˈs problems, including Iranˈs nuclear case should be resolved through a diplomatic process based on international rules and regulations as well as the United Nations (UN) charter. ˈWe are against outside interference in countriesˈ internal affairs and the use of force for solving Middle Eastˈs problems,ˈ the Russian foreign minister said. ˈRussia and China share the same positions… on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, including the Syrian crisis, Afghanistan, Iranˈs nuclear program and other issues,ˈ Lavrov said at a joint news conference with his Chinese counterpart. Taking similar position, Chinese foreign minister, for his part, noted that Beijing supports continuation of talks between Tehran and G5+1 for resolution of the remaining issues. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and western embargos for turning down Westˈs calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed the Westˈs demands as politically-tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iraniansˈ national resolve to continue the path. The Islamic Republic says that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of IAEAˈs questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities. Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehranˈs nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants.