China urges US to lift all anti-Iran sanctions

“China calls on the US to remove all unilateral sanctions and restrictions with respect to Iran and other countries and stop using force,” he said at a UN Security Council meeting dedicated to Resolution 2231 on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions on Thursday.

“All sides must maintain a rational approach and consider the Iranian issue separately from others, and avoid any negative steps that could cause an escalation and undermine diplomatic and political solutions,” he added.

He stated that’s why China voted against the proposal to admit the Ukrainian delegation to the UNSC meeting.

Iran showed to the world the peaceful nature of its nuclear program by signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world states — namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China. But, Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in May 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.

Negotiations between the parties to the landmark agreement kicked off in Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of bringing the US back into the deal and putting an end to its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

The discussions, however, have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on not lifting all of the anti-Iran sanctions and offering the necessary guarantees that it will not exit the agreement again.