US should rectify erroneous policy of maximum pressure against Iran: China

China has urged the United States, as the main culprit behind the current standoff over Iran's nuclear deal, to thoroughly rectify its erroneous policy of maximum pressure against Tehran amid renewed push to resume talks on the removal of Washington's sanctions against Tehran.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks while speaking at a regular press conference on Monday in response to Beijing's stance on a joint statement issued by the United States and its top European allies on October 30.

"Effective implementation of the JCPOA is the only correct way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue," he said, referring to the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was abandoned by the US three years later.  

The Chinese spokesperson expressed his country's firm support for efforts made to "bring the agreement back onto the right track at an early date."

He also called on Iran to resume full compliance as per the JCPOA, saying other parties should all play a constructive role to this end.

Iran and six world powers, including the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China, inked the JCPOA in July 2015. The agreement removed international sanctions on Iran in exchange for certain limits on Iran’s nuclear activities.

The deal, however, was unilaterally abandoned by the US in 2018 despite Iran’s full compliance with its nuclear undertakings, as repeatedly certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The US then unleashed a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran which practically deprived the country of all of the deal’s economic benefits.

Iran fully honored its nuclear obligations for an entire year, after which it decided to ramp up its nuclear work as a legal “remedial measure” against the US violation of the deal and the abject failure on the part of the other signatories, the E3 in particular, to safeguard its benefits.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA have held six rounds of talks in Austria’s capital, Vienna, since April, which began after the administration of US President Joe Biden voiced willingness to rejoin the agreement. The talks were, however, put on hold in the run-up to Iran’s presidential election in June so that the Islamic Republic could go through a period of government transition.

In a tweet following the talks with EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora in Brussels, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and top negotiator Ali Baqeri-Kani said Iran will rejoin the negotiations aimed at the removal of the United States’ sanctions against Tehran before the end of November.

However, the United States and its top European allies have continued to act in bad faith against Iran, endangering the prospects of diplomatic attempts to salvage the US-abandoned Iran nuclear agreement, even after Tehran announced its readiness to resume negotiations in Vienna.

As Tehran gears to resume talks, US and its allies mark another major wrong-headed step against Iran

The US and its top European allies continue to act in bad faith with regard to Iran and the nuclear deal they have been dishonoring since 2018.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the leaders of the United States, Germany, France, and Britain said they shared a “grave and growing concern that, while Iran halted negotiations on a return to the JCPOA since June, it has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps, such as the production of highly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal.”

The statement came a day after the US Treasury Department imposed a fresh round of sanctions on four individuals and two entities allegedly involved in promoting the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programs of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force, despite Washington’s claims to be serious in rejoining the nuclear deal and removing sanctions against the country.

China and Russia have opposed the US sanctions, warning that such bans will complicate the resumption and successful completion of the Vienna negotiations.

In a tweet earlier on Monday, Baqeri-Kani said Tehran and Beijing have common views on the United States’ unlawful and unilateral sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.

Deputy FM: Iran, China share views on US' unlawful, unilateral sanctions

A senior Iranian diplomat says Iran and China have common views on the US

"Iran and China, as reliable partners, share views on the illegal nature of US sanctions and the significance of the rule of law in international relations," he added while explaining about a phone call he had with China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, earlier the same day.

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