Yet in keeping with Chinese and Russian preferences, the draft currently under consideration relies heavily on voluntary enforcement measures and doesn’t constrain energy projects unrelated to nuclear power. On May 20, the president of state-owned China National Petroleum, Jiang Jiemin, said that the resolution wouldn’t affect the company’s projects in Iran, which include developing three new oil and gas fields in Iran and enhancing recovery from a small, older oil field. Other large state-owned Chinese energy companies such as China National Offshore Oil Co. and China National Petrochemical Corp. also have projects in Iran.
The Obama administration apparently has consented to less restrictive language in the current draft in the expectation that even the passage of a weaker resolution would provide sufficient cover for EU governments to adopt their own stricter sanctions. But even so, the depth of China’s commitment to even the current sanctions resolution remains suspect.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang has repeated his country’s standard line that, ‘China has consistently advocated safeguarding the international nuclear non-proliferation system. At the same time, China considers we should resolve the Iran nuclear issue through the channels of dialogue and negotiations.’ Yang also welcomed the deal Brazil and Turkey made the day before in Tehran to exchange about half of Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium for uranium enriched to the higher level needed to fuel Tehran’s medical research reactor.
Brazilian President Lula Inacio da Silva and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said their ‘breakthrough’ made imposing additional sanctions on Tehran unnecessary, while Yang expressed ‘appreciation for the diplomatic efforts all parties have made to positively seek an appropriate solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.’ Terming the agreement on a trilateral uranium exchange ‘a positive step in the right direction,’ Ambassador Li expressed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for additional sanctions: ‘We think the introduction of the draft resolution represents an opportunity. It is our hope that all the parties concerned can grasp the opportunity to work for a proper solution though diplomacy.’
The subject of Iranian sanctions will undoubtedly be discussed at this week’s China-US strategic and economic dialogue in Beijing. But if ties between China and Iran continue to develop, securing Beijing’s support against Tehran could prove even more difficult in the future.
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