Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met in Beijing Thursday with visiting Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, exchanging views on current situation of the Iran nuclear issue.

 

Both Li and Araghchi agreed that the Iran nuclear issue should be solved through diplomatic negotiation.

 

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai held talks with Araghchi on Thursday.

 

China on Thursday called for positive response to the proposals agreed by the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany on solution to the Iran nuclear issue.

 

"We hope the proposals will receive positive response from all the parties concerned so that negotiations will be resumed soon," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao told a news briefing, describing the proposals as an "important foundation" for the issue's solution.

 

Meanwhile, Liu confirmed at the briefing that Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad will come to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit slated for June 15 in Shanghai.

 

Iran, together with Mongolia, Pakistan and India, are SCO observers.

 

Liu said Hu Jintao will hold bilateral meetings with the presidents of the SCO member states and observers on the sidelines of the summit, including Ahmadinejad.

 

Liu said China had discussed Iran's nuclear issue with the country in the past and will continue to do so in the future to improve mutual understanding.

 

"China will continue to make positive efforts to help peacefully solve the Iran nuclear issue through negotiations," Liu said.

 

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana went to Tehran on Monday to present to Iran a package of incentives, which was agreed last week among the five UN Security Council permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, in exchange for Iran's suspension of uranium enrichment.

 

Details of the proposals are unknown, but EU diplomats said they included a light-water nuclear reactor and a foreign supply of atomic fuel for Iran, as well as an offer to suspend sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council.

 

The proposals also carry penalties that can be applied by the United Nations Security Council if Tehran does not cooperate, said the diplomats, according to earlier reports.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2006)