Iran, US need to be more flexible in talks: China

London, Sept 7: China hopes both Tehran and Washington can be more flexible in negotiations about Iran's nuclear ambitions so a diplomatic solution can be reached, officials said today.

Noting that diplomats from six major world powers were in Berlin to consider what steps to take after Iran ignored a UN Security Council deadline to stop uranium enrichment, Xu Feihong, political counsellor at the Chinese embassy in London, said relations between Iran and the United States were central.

''The core of this issue is the relations between Iran and the US because Iran has said it wants direct talks with the US We hope that both Iran and the US will be more flexible in their stance in the talks,'' Xu said.

''We still hope that this issue will be solved through diplomatic means at the negotiations because it is the most effective way,'' he said.

Xu and other Chinese officials were speaking to reporters ahead of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's trip to London next week when he will discuss Iran, Wasia and Sudan, among other issues, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Iran failed to heed the August 31 deadline set by the Security Council to halt enrichment, a process which can be used to make fuel for power stations or material for warheads.

Negotiators from Germany and the five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- are expected to consider at the Berlin meeting the possibility of imposing sanctions on Iran. China has made it clear that it dislikes this idea.

''This is a very sensitive issue. We have stated our policy very clearly that the most important thing is that this issue is solved through peaceful means,'' Xu said.

Wen and Blair are also expected to discuss a United Nations proposal to send a UN peacekeeping force to Sudan's Darfur region, where an African Union force has been unable to end the humanitarian crisis in the lawless west of the country.

China, which is developing close contacts with Africa as a source of raw materials and market for cheap exports, abstained from a UN vote at the end of August which was in favour of creating the UN peacekeeping force.

''We think that for this issue ... it should get the agreement of the Sudan government beforehand because (it) is a very important party in this issue,'' Xu said.

Wen and Blair will also sign an agreement on climate change, the Chinese official said.

Wen is due in London on September 12, with a delegation including Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who will likely meet British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett.

Reuters