Iran's top nuclear negotiator and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, is set to arrive in Beijing today for meetings with top Chinese leaders, according to Foreign Ministry sources.

 

As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's special envoy, Larijani's two-day China visit comes 10 days after a unanimous UN resolution placed sanctions against his country over its controversial nuclear activities.

 

The US has led the international drive to halt Iran's uranium enrichment program that they fear could be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran maintains its atomic program is entirely peaceful and that it has every right to the nuclear fuel cycle.

 

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on December 23 to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology. This was aimed at stop Iran's uranium enrichment work that could produce material used in bombs.

 

China emphasized sanctions are not the end but a means to urge Iran to resume negotiations. It called for renewed talks aimed at ending the gridlock, saying the UN sanctions are unlikely to resolve the conflict.

 

Hua Liming, a former Chinese ambassador to Iran, said the UN sanctions would in effect carry little substantial economic and technical clout with Iran, but bear high political pressure.

 

"So Larijani might avail of his Beijing visit to seek support from China in future discussions about the implementation of UN sanctions," Hua said.

 

China is likely to reiterate its position on the Iranian nuclear issue and persuade Iran to respond to the appeal from the international community and take steps to stop its uranium enrichment, he said.

 

Hua noted there is little possibility of Teheran abandoning its hard-line attitude as no such signs have been seen so far.

 

Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran would not retreat from its right to nuclear technology and that the UN resolution was "invalid."

 

"The Iranian nation is wise and will stick to its nuclear work and is ready to defend it completely," Ahmadinejad said in a televized speech to a rally in the southern city of Ahvaz.

 

"The UN resolution against Iran's atomic work has no validity for Iranians. It is illegal and politically motivated."

 

Ahmadinejad said some world powers were bullying Iran over its nuclear program. "If bullying powers... want to resist (Iranians' will), we will give them a historic slap in the face."

 

He said Iran's nuclear program was not a threat to Middle-East stability.

 

"Iran's power is not a threat to any regional country. Our power is at the service of the region's peace, stability and development." he said, speaking in the capital of Khuzestan Province, the heartland of Iran's oil industry.

 

In news that the dispute could be far from over, reports are surfacing that the US is ready to launch a new diplomatic initiative with several European countries aimed at a wider financial isolation of the Middle-Eastern nation.

 

(China Daily January 4, 2007)