China, Germany agree to no nuclear weapons for Iran

Beijing, May 22: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today she and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed at talks in Beijing that Iran should not have nuclear weapon capabilities.

''We talked about Iran and both agreed Iran should not have the capability to make nuclear weapons and shouldn't proliferate weapons of mass destruction,'' Merkel told reporters on her first visit to China as chancellor.

''We agreed that Iran should not be allowed to gain possession of nuclear weapons.'' Western powers have been at odds with China and Russia over how to halt Iran's atomic programmes, which the West believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

Beijing has been opposed to tougher measures like sanctions against Iran to force it to stop its research, and trying to forge a consensus on the issue is seen as one of the goals of Merkel's trip.

The weekly magazine Der Spiegel cited unnamed German officials in its latest edition as saying that some in Berlin would like to break the deadlock with Iran by allowing it to engage in uranium enrichment research, a view also held by the UN nuclear watchdog's chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

''Some Germans have this view. But we will not break ranks with the EU3 and the Americans,'' a German official told Reuters, referring to the European Union powers of Britain, France and Germany.

''We want to keep as unified a front as possible, preferably one that includes the Russians and Chinese,'' said the official, who declined to be named.

Reuters