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IRAN-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-NUCLEAR
China ‘regrets’ Iran’s decision to exceed uranium limit
BEIJING, July 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China said Tuesday it regrets Iran’s
decision to exceed a limit on enriched uranium reserves under a 2015 nuclear
deal, but said US “maximum pressure is the root cause” of tensions.
Iran said Monday it had made good on its warning that it would breach the
limit, prompting US President Donald Trump to warn that Tehran was “playing
with fire”.
The United States withdrew from the nuclear deal last year and hit Iran’s
crucial oil exports and financial transactions as well as other sectors with
biting sanctions.
Tehran, which has sought to pressure the remaining parties to save the
deal, announced on May 8 that it would no longer respect the limit set on its
enriched uranium and heavy water stockpiles.
It threatened to abandon further nuclear commitments unless the remaining
partners — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — helped it
circumvent sanctions, especially to sell its oil.
“China regrets the measures taken by Iran, but at the same time, we have
emphasised on many previous occasions that the US’s maximum pressure is the
root cause of the current fraught tensions,” Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.
“We call on all parties to view this from a long-term and overall
perspective, exercise restraint and uphold the JCPOA (nuclear deal) together
so that there won’t be further escalation in the tense situation,” Geng said.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1617 hrs