UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — China's UN ambassador on Tuesday suggested an agreement by six world powers to seek new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program could be called into question by the latest US intelligence assessment.
Asked to comment on the US intelligence community's stunning revelation Monday that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, Ambassador Wang Guangya called it "an important report."
"Certainly I think we will study the contents and also think about the implications for the (UN Security) Council's action here," he said.
Pressed by reporters on whether the assessment might make new sanctions against Iran less likely in the near term, the Chinese diplomat said: "I think Council members will have to consider that, because ... now things have changed."
Representatives of the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany met Saturday in Paris to decide what the next steps will be in their efforts to make Iran to comply with a UN-ordered halt to its uranium enrichment program. World powers fear that the enriched uranium could be used for nuclear bombs.
The six powers said after the meeting they had agreed to start work on a UN Security Council resolution calling for new sanctions against Tehran.
On Tuesday, Washington, Paris and London said they were still willing to push ahead with the sanctions plan, despite the US National Intelligence Estimate assessment released one day earlier.
From the start, China and Russia have been reluctant to join UN sanctions actions against Iran, voting along with the other Security Council members in December 2006 and March 2007, but only after the sanctions included favorable amendments to Iran.
On Tuesday, UN diplomats said the six powers ambassadors were awaiting instructions from their respective governments -- which could come as early as Friday -- on the elements of a new resolution of restrictive measures towards Iran.
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