Al Jazeera reports on the second round of talks to discuss sanctions against Iran:
Envoys from the five veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council nations, the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, along with Germany, met for more than three hours on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in New York City to discuss a fourth sanctions resolution.
…Obama said on Tuesday that Hu Jintao, Chinese president, had assured him that China would participate in drafting sessions on strong sanctions.
But Iran expressed doubts later on Tuesday that China, which relies on Iran for 11 per cent of its energy needs and last year became Tehran’s biggest trading partner, would back the US push for new sanctions.
‘Dual-track plan’
Jiang Yu, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said in Beijing on Tuesday that China supports a “dual-track strategy”, combining diplomacy with the possibility of international sanctions against Iran, but the country believes “pressure and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve it”.
