China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun’ made the remarks in his regular Press Conference on Tuesday.
He made the remarks in response to the following question: “On September 27, the UN Security Council failed to adopt the draft resolution for a technical extension to resolution 2231 tabled by China and Russia. The UK, France and Germany claimed that under resolution 2231 the Security Council will reimpose sanctions on Iran starting from September 28. What’s your comment?
Guo Jiakun answered, “The aim of the draft resolution for an extension was to make more time and space for diplomatic negotiation on the Iranian nuclear issue and create favorable conditions for eventually achieving a political settlement of the issue. Pushing through the “snapback” mechanism is not constructive and has severely reversed the political and diplomatic process of resolving the Iranian nuclear issue.”
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website, he said that “The U.S.’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the root cause of today’s crisis. China maintains that peacefully resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through political and diplomatic means is the only viable option and opposes the threat of force, slapping sanctions and pressuring. China calls on the U.S. and European countries to show political sincerity, make more diplomatic effort, take the Iranian nuclear issue back to the right track of political and diplomatic settlement and prevent the situation from further escalation. China will continue upholding an objective and just position and play a constructive role for reaching a settlement that accommodates the legitimate concerns of all parties.”
In the latest remarks on the activation of the snapback mechanism to return the sanctions at the end of the JCPOA against Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier on Tuesday at the end of his trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session that the talks with the US were futile.
“I met bilaterally with the foreign ministers of over 31 countries. Alongside discussions on the nuclear issue…” Araghchi said.
He also said that “Tehran exchanged messages with Washington both directly and indirectly; however, the process proved talks with the US are futile, as Leader said.”
