Backers of Iran Sanctions Make an Appeal to China

By RICK GLADSTONE

American advocacy groups that want to isolate Iran over its suspect nuclear program singled out China on Monday, using the visit to the United States by China’s next leader to criticize the vast Chinese purchases of Iranian petroleum, and to urge him and President Obama to forge a common position opposing Iran’s uranium enrichment.
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Mock-ups of American helicopters and drones were displayed Monday in Tehran for the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
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The banner below the drone model, which reads “America can't do a damn thing” in Persian, was mistranslated into the English below it as “American can do no wrong.”
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Vice President Xi Jinping of China
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In a letter addressed to Vice President Xi Jinping of China, a bipartisan group of former national security advisers urged him to support the sanctions efforts by the United States and the European Union, which seek to penalize Iran in part by severely limiting its ability to export oil.

China is Iran’s biggest customer for oil, which helps feed China’s voracious need for energy, and China could easily undermine the oil-sanctions effort. While China has said it does not want to see Iran become a nuclear weapons power, it has also been highly critical of the American-led campaign to isolate Iran and has urged a resumption of international talks on Iran’s uranium enrichment, which Iran contends is a purely peaceful endeavor.

“We believe that the value of these sanctions is to encourage the kind of diplomatic

breakthrough on Iran’s nuclear activities that both of our nations seek,” read the letter from the security advisers group, the Partnership for a Secure America, based in Washington. “In the context of your historic trip to the United States, we therefore urge you to make clear that China will significantly reduce its imports of oil from Iran, uphold the applicable resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, and use its economic influence with Tehran, coupled with robust diplomacy, to help resolve this issue peacefully.”

In a letter addressed to Mr. Obama, United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based group that has successfully advocated for some of the harshest American sanctions, urged him to aggressively seek concessions on the Iran issue from Mr. Xi, who is to meet with Mr. Obama on Tuesday.

“It is imperative that you state in the strongest possible terms that China’s lack of cooperation in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability is a matter of utmost concern to the United States,” read the letter by the group’s president, Mark D. Wallace. “China must fully comprehend that the greatest security threat the United States currently faces is the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran.”

Preparations for Mr. Xi’s visit came as China exerted some of its own diplomacy on Iran, sending an assistant foreign minister, Ma Zhaoxu, to Tehran for two days of talks to discuss the nuclear issue with the deputy secretary of Iran’s national security council.

In a statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Web site, Mr. Ma said the purpose of the visit was to advance resumption of talks between Iran and the so-called P5 plus one — the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany. Those talks were suspended more than a year ago, and Iran has given conflicting signals on its desire to resume them.

Mr. Ma also said China wants to “encourage Iran to strengthen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure the Iran nuclear issue moves forward on the proper course of dialogue.”

Iran’s leaders have publicly used the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which Iran has been celebrating over the past few days, as a platform to denounce what they call American-led conspiracies to subvert Iran’s legitimate right to nuclear energy and a secure economic future.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, in a speech on Monday reported by Iran’s Press TV Web site, said, “All plots hatched by enemies are aimed at hindering Iran’s progress because they are fearful of our country’s development.”