China falters at Obama’s request for sanctions against Tehran
Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - With great reluctance and after imposing heavy conditions, China appears to have come to terms with the idea of new international sanctions against Iran. However it remains to be seen whether the "yes, but.." from Beijing will in fact weaken measures that the United States are set to propose, to the point of actually being a veiled “no”.
The Iranian nuclear issue dominated yesterday’s opening day of the summit on nuclear safety desired by Barack Obama in Washington that brings together leaders from 47 countries, for what is the largest international summit hosted by U.S. since 1945, when the founding of the UN was decided. Although the representative of Tehran to the UN Atomic Energy Agency Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, today told the official IRNA agency that "the U.S. has invited only a small number of countries to the Washington Conference, to deceive world public opinion. "
Pending the concluding statements, scheduled for this afternoon, Obama has achieved some results, such as Ukraine's commitment to eliminate its stocks of enriched uranium, used for military purposes, by 2012.
But the main objective of Nuclear Security Summit wanted that Obama was to ensure that atomic weapons do not end up in the hands of terrorist groups. Yesterday a U.S. anti-terrorism expert John Brennan, recalled that al-Qaeda has been seeking material to build a bomb nuclear for over 15 years. For this very reason, another goal is to reach an agreement by which within the next four years stocks of highly enriched uranium everywhere in the world will be subject to very strict security measures.
It also means preventing countries like Iran and North Korea - both not invited – from coming into possession of an atomic weapon. In this perspective, Obama is now seeking international agreement on new sanctions against Tehran. And Hu Jintao’s China is the biggest obstacle to this, as its thirst for energy has made it a major investor in Iranian oil and gas.
Yesterday, after 90 minutes of conversation between Obama and Hu Jintao, the White House said that "the two presidents agreed that the two delegations will work together on sanctions." Spokesman Jeff Bader spoke of "new sign of international unity," but, in concrete terms, he more cautiously observed "we started working and will continue in the coming days and weeks." Chinese spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu, did not even mentioned sanctions.
But from Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jiang Yu, said that "China continues to believe that dialogue and negotiation are the best way to tackle the problem. Pressures and sanctions will not resolve the root causes”. Chinese diplomats have indicated that China's UN ambassador, Li Baodong, while not specifically discussing the text on sanctions that Americans are circulating, said he opposed banning foreign investment in Iran's energy sector. But this is the strongest point in the sanctions. Tehran, while one of the leading world producers of oil, wants to broaden its energy research - China is one of the main players in this - and it does not, for example, have sufficient refineries to meet its needs, and therefore is forced to imports gas.
The Chinese concerns are echoed by the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke of a "diplomatic solution" to the Iranian issue. Erdogan added that his country does not want Iran or other countries to "have nuclear weapons”. A statement that again indicates Israel, whose Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has avoided being personally present in Washington.
In short, the prospects - pending the concluding statements and subsequent, predictable negotiations between China and the United States on financial matters related to the undervaluation of the Chinese currency - appear, for now, open.
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