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China's commercial interests in Iran, while important, aren't the only factors Beijing is looking at in trying to decide whether to join Western sanctioning allies in talks with Iran, Chinese experts said On Monday.


"The geographic importance of Iran to China is another factor, which is irreplaceable by other oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates," said Yao Jide, a professor who just came back from Teheran University after doing research there for a year. "Russia is probably in the same consideration."


Of the six major world powers working to defuse the standoff with Tehran, Beijing and Moscow have so far formed a united front, rejecting sanctions and pushing for further negotiations despite intensifying pressure from Washington.


AFP quoted Western experts as saying that "the commercial interests could be a factor" in China's and Russia's decision-making because the two countries have the biggest stakes in Iran's natural-gas sector, and Iran is also the No. 3 source of crude oil for China.


While US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unsuccessfully tried last week to persuade Russia to support new sanctions against the Islamic republic during a visit to Moscow, one of her deputies was trying to win Beijing's support.


Western countries hope China softens its position, even though nearly 14 percent of China's oil imports come from Iran and several Chinese firms are in line to secure gas contracts there, notably in the South Pars field.


According to the Wall Street Journal, in a step coordinated with Washington and to release China's commercial worries, the United Arab Emirates agreed to boost oil exports to China to between 150,000 to 200,000 barrels a day from a current level of 50,000 over the next six months.


Disagreeing with the intentions, Xu Tiebing, a professor of international relations at the Communication University of China, said Beijing wouldn't support new sanctions "as long as there isn't sufficient evidence showing that Iran is using its technology to develop weapons."


Yao, who is also the director of the Iran Studies Center at Yunnan University in Kunming, said the recent negotiations in Vienna and Geneva are dynamic political games.


"China and Russia tentatively agreed to sanctions on Iran when the US canceled missile defense sites in Eastern Europe. But seeing that the US is seeking other sites to reinstall the defense system, both China and Russia took back their agreement and are waiting for further information – this is one example to show the interactive nature of the talks."


Also yesterday, France, Russia and the US began talks with Iran at the UN watchdog's headquarters in Vienna on the supply of uranium for a research reactor in Tehran, discussing a proposal whereby Russia and France would enrich fuel for the reactor.


Global Times