US hits at Beijing over Iran stance : By James Blitz, Diplomatic Editor FT: November 2 2007

The US on Friday for the first time publicly criticised China over its stance on Iran’s nuclear programme, expressing disappointment that Beijing is stalling over plans for a new United Nations resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran. After senior officials from the five permanent members of the UN security council and Germany held talks in London on the issue, the US warned that China was putting its economic interests in Iran ahead of the need to resolve the nuclear dispute. “We are disappointed by the lack of co-operation by China on a third Security Council resolution,” said Nicholas Burns, US under-secretary of state, representing Washington at the meeting. “We don’t think that China is moving with us.”
Mr Burns said the US believes China has increased trade with Iran in the last six months, sending the wrong signal to Tehran about the international community’s attitude towards the nuclear programme. Political directors from Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia and China will meet again on November 19 to decide whether to press for fresh UN sanctions.By then, they will be able to assess fresh reports from the UN’s nuclear watchdog and from the European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on the state of Iran’s nuclear programme.A downbeat report from Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), could give fresh impetus for a new UN resolution on Iran. However, a more mixed report from the IAEA chief is likely to see the six powers dividing over what action to take. The US, UK, France and Germany are pressing for a new raft of sanctions, believing that Iran is covertly seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. Russia and China, however, have long made clear their reluctance to approve fresh sanctions on Iran. Several senior diplomats in the P5 have indicated that, behind the scenes, Russia is putting pressure on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment plans. However, these diplomats argue that China is beginning to become a far more serious obstacle to agreement on a new resolution because of its economic interests in the country. According to one senior EU diplomat, the Chinese leadership’s attention has been completely dominated by the recent Communist party congress. “The Chinese leadership has therefore not had the opportunity for a full reconsideration of its policy on Iran,” the diplomat said.