China said on Tuesday Iran's nuclear standoff with major powers must be resolved through dialogue, reiterating its stance in its first official comments since Iran ignored a U.N. deadline to stop uranium enrichment, reported REUTERS. The United States says the enrichment programme is aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Tehran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says it is to fulfil civilian energy needs. "We have consistently stood for the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiation and dialogue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference. Although Iran ignored the U.N.'s Aug. 31 deadline, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday that Iran wanted to find a negotiated solution to its nuclear standoff with the West. But Germany has signalled it is running out of patience, saying that if talks between Iran and the EU foreign policy chief fail to persuade Tehran to change its behaviour, action at the Security Council would have to be considered. China, whose trade with Iran reached nearly $8 billion in the first seven months of the year, has long urged negotiation as a way to solve the crisis and has traditionally opposed the use of sanctions in international diplomacy. Iran provides more than 11 percent of China's oil imports. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is to meet Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani this week to clarify Iran's hint that the extent of its programme could be negotiated. The United States said on Friday it was consulting European allies about possible sanctions against the Islamic Republic. But the EU, wary of isolating a major oil supplier and export market, has signalled it wants more dialogue with Iran and has agreed to try to clarify its stance within two weeks.
