China: Threatening Iran Sanctions Hinders Diplomacy

Push for Sanctions Counter-Productive

In a visit to France today, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi cautioned that the Western push for more sanctions against Iran was counter-productive and that they should allow more time for negotiations.

Western officials have renewed their push for sanctions to punish Iran for “refusing” to accept a draft third-party enrichment deal. This push has continued and actually sped up despite Iran accepting that deal earlier this week.

China has been blocking debate on the sanctions in the UN Security Council for the past month, and is seen as likely to veto any push for such sanctions now that the French have assumed the council presidency.

The US has threatened China with “isolation” for refusing to support the call for sanctions. With Chinese ire over US arms sales to Taiwan growing, it seems unlikely that the threat of displeasing the US is going to change the policy.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.