The lines are being drawn between Iran and the United States. Timothy Geithner’s attempt to persuade China to initiate sanctions against Iran have failed. The European Union has postponed any sanctions for six months citing their poor economic conditions which would lead into a recession. On the other side, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is concluding his successful Latin America tour in Cuba with Fidel Castro.
David DeGerolamo
China Rebuffs US Over Sanctions
China has declared its opposition to the US-led unilateral sanctions against Iran, despite efforts by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to woo Beijing leaders for the imposition of an oil embargo on Tehran.
“It is unreasonable for a country to impose its domestic laws as overriding international law and to demand that other countries enforce it,” China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin said in a press briefing on Wednesday, AFP reported.
Liu added that China as “a major developing country” would continue to import Iranian oil to meet its “reasonable demand for energy”.
“We have repeatedly stated that China has normal and transparent energy cooperation with Iran, and that does not violate Security Council resolutions,” he said.
Liu further said Beijing rejects linking Iran’s nuclear program to trade transactions with the Islamic Republic.
“China believes that normal energy cooperation and reasonable demand are unrelated to the Iranian nuclear issue and should not be affected,” Liu said.
Iran exported about 622,000 barrels of oil per day to China in November, maintaining its place as the third largest crude supplier to the East Asian country.
The United States recently announced plans to boycott the Central Bank of Iran over the country’s nuclear program to punish foreign companies and banks conducting business with the Iranian financial institution.
