UNITED NATIONS (AP) — After months of diplomatic dancing, China has agreed to sit down with five major powers Thursday to discuss possible new sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and start talks on its suspect nuclear program.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a French parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that China would join the United States, Britain, Russia, France – all veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council – and Germany for talks on a fourth U.N. sanctions resolution.
China agreed to discuss possible new sanctions during a phone conversation in late March with senior diplomats from the five other countries but no date had been set for the start of the discussions.
Kouchner said the Chinese participation on Thursday is a "positive factor," according to the ministry.
He did not give any details and China's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley would not confirm Thursday's meeting, saying there will be discussions in coming days in several locations and "I'm not going to sit here and advertise every single meeting that takes place."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in January that the Obama administration has concluded that the best way to pressure Iran to come clean on its nuclear ambitions is to impose new sanctions aimed at the country's ruling elite.
Ambassadors from the six countries will be discussing elements for a possible U.N. resolution circulated by the United States which well-informed diplomats said will target Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, which has major interests in nuclear proliferation activities.
The proposed new sanctions would also toughen existing measures against Iran's shipping, banking and insurance sectors and target additional companies and individuals connected to its nuclear program, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the U.S. proposal has not been released publicly.
