China has urged Iran and the P5+1 group -- comprising the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China -- to resume negotiations over Iran's nuclear issue.

"China believes any dialog between Iran and the (P)5+1 group … will play a positive role,” Xinhua quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as saying at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.

All parties should remain committed to negotiation, consider suggestions from involved parties seriously, give more attention to positive ideas and cooperate on them, he added.

Yang said that China will continue efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the issue and voiced Beijing’s opposition to unilateral sanctions against Iran.


The deputies to Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, held day-long talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on July 24.

The meeting between Ali Baqeri and Helga Schmid was held three weeks after Iran and the P5+1 held an expert-level meeting on July 3 in Istanbul with the participation of representatives and experts from both sides.

The two sides had already agreed to hold the expert-level talks during their negotiations in the Russian capital, Moscow, in June.

At the heart of the Moscow negotiations was Iran’s nuclear energy program, with Tehran reiterating its inalienable right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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