In China, Israel's Olmert eyes Iran nuke sanctions

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

BEIJING, Jan 10 (Reuters) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will ask China today to press for sanctions against Iran if it flouts a UN Security Council resolution curbing trade in nuclear materials that could be used for bombs.

In talks with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Olmert -- who considers China an old friend of the Jews, if not the Jewish state -- will argue that a nuclear-armed Iran would imperil both Israel and stability in a region that Beijing relies on for oil.

''Yes, we see Iran as an existential threat, but at this point in time it is as, and even more, important to emphasise the greater global concerns,'' a senior Olmert aide told Reuters.

Olmert's three-day China tour completes his visits to nations with permanent seats on the Security Council, whose Resolution 1737 on December 23 gave Iran 60 days to comply with limits on its uranium enrichment activities or risk possible sanctions.

But like fellow veto-wielder Russia, China has voiced a preference for pursuing negotiations with Tehran, which says its atomic ambitions are peaceful. Beijing's approach has often been at odds with that of the United States and some European nations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be ''wiped off the map''. That stirred fear that Israel, assumed to have the West Asia's only nuclear arms, could launch pre-emptive strikes if it deems diplomacy has reached a dead end.

For now, the Olmert aide said, ''Israel hopes China and the rest of the international community will stand firm on Iran's compliance with the (Security Council) resolution''.

IRANIAN NEGOTIATOR Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the Olmert visit was a chance to ''consolidate friendly ties'' established with Israel in 1992. The sides also hope to bolster bilateral trade, which currently stands at more than 3 billion dollar but is dwarfed by China's consumption of Iranian and Arab oil.

''We can have an exchange of views on issues of common interest including the West Asia issue and the Iranian nuclear issue,'' Liu told a regular news conference yesterday.

Olmert, who is also scheduled to meet President Hu Jintao tomorrow, is following hard on the heels of Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, who visited Beijing last week.

The Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Larijani as saying that Tehran remained committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which assures signatories the right to develop nuclear fuel for energy purposes but bans bomb-making.

''But if we were further threatened, our conditions too would be subject to alterations,'' Larijani said.

Any diplomatic gains that Olmert can claim in Beijing might help his popularity at home, which has plummeted amid corruption scandals, the Lebanon war and deadlocked Palestinian talks.

Israeli television reported yesterday that Olmert could face a police probe upon his return over suspicions of cronyism. He has denied wrongdoing in a slew of other such allegations.

Israel has taken its time in reorienting itself toward China, which broke with the West last year by engaging with Hamas after the militant Islamic group, which advocates the Jewish state's destruction, swept Palestinian legislative elections.

But Olmert, whose parents belonged to a Russian Jewish refugee community that settled in northern China a century ago, has professed a ''spiritual connection'' to the Asian superpower.

Reuters DKS VP0710

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