Iran's nuclear issue should be solved through dialogue and negotiations, and there is still room for diplomatic efforts, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.
"We hope the relevant parties take more flexible and pragmatic measures and step up diplomatic efforts in a bid to resume talks as soon as possible," said Jiang Yu, according to Xinhua.
Washington has dismissed Iran's nuclear ultimatum and said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposal already offered to Tehran was sufficient.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Saturday urged the West to accept a uranium swap deal within a month, or else it would produce its own nuclear fuel.
The U.S. has threatened another round of UN sanctions against Iran if it does not abide by the year-end deadline.
Under the plan, Iran was to ship its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for further enrichment and processing into fuel for power plants. Iran would not thereby be able to enrich uranium to make weapons.
The United States and other Western powers have demanded that Iran halt uranium enrichment, fearing it seeks to build nuclear weapons. Tehran insists that it needs nuclear technology only to generate electricity.
Iran earlier said it could consider a simultaneous swap of its nuclear fuel for other uranium, but that the exchange would have to take place on its own territory.
Tehran, however, has not accepted the proposal, calling for "concrete guarantees" for the return of its fuel.
Iran, which is already under three sets of UN sanctions for refusing to halt uranium enrichment, recently announced plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities. Tehran insists it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity, while Western powers suspect it of pursuing an atomic weapons program.
BEIJING/MOSCOW, January 5 (RIA Novosti)
