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West, China split on Iran

Ewen MacAskill and Nick Paton Walsh

Beijing says referring nuclear issue to U.N. will complicate the crisis

LONDON/Moscow: Differences between the West and Russia and China were exposed on Monday during a meeting in London to discuss the strategy for tackling the crisis over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.

After seven hours of talks, Britain, France and Germany announced they are to seek Iran's referral to the United Nations Security Council at a meeting on February 2 and 3 of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Javier Solana, E.U.'s foreign affairs chief, said he was ``confident'' Russia and China will back the referral. But both countries expressed serious reservations about future handling of the crisis, in particular the prospect of the Security Council imposing sanctions on Iran.

Russia, though slowly shifting towards the West's position, is still holding out hope that Teheran may yet accept a compromise.

China, which has close economic ties with Iran, is the most hardline in opposing tough action against Teheran.

One European diplomat said: ``What is really crucial is support from Russia and China. China does not look too good. China is the major obstacle.''

He added that China, which has a veto on the Security Council, felt squeezed between pressure from the West and dependency on Iranian oil.

A British diplomat said: ``There was serious concern about Iranian moves to restart enrichment contrary to the appeals of the international community" He added, ``there was a thorough exchange of views'' on the role of the Security Council.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

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