Chinese Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran Chang Hua in an interview with Mehr News agency on the recent talks in Vienna between Iran and 4+1 believes that China believes that distinguishing right from wrong is the primary prerequisite for the orderly conduct of the negotiation. The US, as the culprit of the current Iranian nuclear crisis, should naturally remove all illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran and third parties including China, to regain the trust of the international society with concrete actions.
Here is the full text of the interview with him:
Iran has taken a constructive stance on the Iranian nuclear issue and has sent a delegation to take part in the new round of negotiation on resuming compliance with the JCPOA. However, the US and Western countries still criticize Iran for not being serious enough in the negotiation. How do you evaluate Iran’s performance in the negotiation?
Recently, the Iranian side invited the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to visit Iran, and the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani led a delegation to the new round of negotiation in Vienna. China welcomes these positive signals.
Since the resumption of the new round of negotiation on November 29, all parties have shown their attitudes of seriousness. Though it was still far from making a breakthrough, the progress of the negotiation this week should not be underestimated. All parties conducted comprehensive and in-depth discussions on sanction lifting and nuclear issues, based on the text of the previous six rounds of negotiation. Iran put forward written amendments on the above two issues, and other parties further exchanged views with Iran on this basis. These intensive interactions helped other parties to enhance their understanding of the position of the new Iranian administration’s negotiating team.
Upholding dialogue and negotiation is the only right way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. All parties should adhere to the direction of political and diplomatic solutions, demonstrate goodwill and flexibility, respect each other’s interests, create an enabling atmosphere, creatively resolve outstanding issues, ensure the return of full compliance with the original JCPOA, and bring the JCPOA back onto the right track at an early date.
Iran has repeatedly stressed that the core purpose of this round of negotiation is to lift sanctions against Iran and normalize Iran’s economic and trade activities. How do you evaluate this appeal of Iran?
China believes that distinguishing right from wrong is the primary prerequisite for the orderly conduct of the negotiation. The US, as the culprit of the current Iranian nuclear crisis, should naturally remove all illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran and third parties including China, to regain the trust of the international society with concrete actions. On this basis, Iran will resume compliance with its commitment. All parties should be committed to mutual respect, seek win-win results, restore the balance between parties’ rights and obligations, and promote regional peace and stability. China understands Iran’s legitimate demands and supports Iran in safeguarding its lawful rights and interests. The rights and interests of all sides in conducting normal economic and trade cooperation with Iran should be respected. China will, as always, safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests regarding sanction lifting and other aspects.
The US and Western countries reportedly have talked about “Plan B” in case of the negotiation breaks down. Iran thinks that considering alternative options right now is not constructive, is a waste of time and negotiation for negotiation. What’s your opinion? Does China support the discussion of alternative plans?
Ruling out interference is the fundamental guarantee for keeping the negotiations on the right track. All parties should work together to create a positive atmosphere in this regard.
Parties should uphold a pragmatic and cooperative spirit, remain objective and rational and pursue a feasible solution while avoiding drastic words and actions. Parties should not willfully discuss “alternative plans” to exert pressure, link regional security and other irrelevant issues with the negotiation on resuming compliance, and adapt escalating words and actions disrupting diplomatic efforts.
Currently, while having some differences, parties should adhere to the political direction of dialogue and negotiation, continue to firmly maintain the trend of negotiation, seek and enlarge consensus through focusing on text and amendments to advance the negotiation process. Parties shouldn’t emphasize differences too much, or they will sink into divergences.
The spokesperson of the Chinese MFA welcomed the resumption of the Vienna negotiation on the Iran nuclear issue. What is China’s stance on this round of negotiation?
With the resumption of negotiation, the political and diplomatic resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue faces a new opportunity as well as new daunting challenges. China has four propositions on advancing the negotiation process.
First, we need to uphold the correct negotiating logic. The US, as the culprit of the Iranian nuclear crisis, should naturally remove all illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran and third parties including China. On this basis, Iran will resume compliance with its commitment in the nuclear sector. All parties should uphold fairness and justice and create enabling conditions for realizing the above goals.
Second, we need to respect the legitimate rights, interests and concerns of all sides. The negotiation should be based on mutual respect, seek win-win results, restore the balance between parties’ rights and obligations, and promote regional peace and stability. The rights and interests of all sides in conducting normal economic and trade cooperation with Iran should be respected.
Third, we need to adopt a practical and flexible negotiating strategy. China agrees that the process should be advanced on the basis of consensus reached in past negotiation. At the same time, we should adhere to equal-footed consultation, draw on political wisdom, creatively resolve outstanding issues and strive to reach an agreement at an early date.
Fourth, we need to adhere to the direction of political and diplomatic resolution. All sides should remain objective and rational, safeguard the negotiation process and avoid disrupting diplomatic efforts with drastic words and actions.
Today, all sides agreed to adjourn the negotiation temporarily in order to assess negotiation this week and seek further instructions from their respective capitals. China hopes that this will inject new political impetus into the negotiation next week. Meanwhile, China also hopes that during the recess, all relevant parties will continue to make efforts to create a good negotiation atmosphere.
What role has China played in promoting process in this round of negotiation?
China has always been firmly committed to upholding the JCPOA and worked for promoting the resumption of the negotiation. Since August, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called Iranian and US presidents respectively to work on the Iranian nuclear issue, pointing out the direction for proper settlement of the issue. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held multiple video meetings and phone calls with all parties and put forward specific ideas and suggestions on resuming the negotiation process. In addition, China has been conducting intensive communication and coordination with major parties including Russia, Iran, the UK, France, Germany, the US and the EU at various levels and through multiple means for the early resumption of and progress in the negotiation. China will continue to practice real multilateralism, firmly support the process of resuming compliance negotiation, play a unique and constructive role and work with all sides to push for the results at an early date.
Interview by Payman Yazdani