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By Jia Cheng The US State Department on Tuesday hit seven foreign firms with sanctions for doing business with Iran, as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report with new information concerning possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear activities. All seven firms were involved in the supply of gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran, AFP quoted Deputy Security of State James Steinberg as saying. The announcement of new sanctions on these companies, including ones from Venezuela and Israel, is part of a new strategy to reduce Iranian funds for a nuclear program that the US fears has a military component, according to AFP. Yin Gang, a senior Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the new sanctions were not only aimed at bringing Iran back to talks, but also to strangle Iran's nuclear weapon production. The US also said that it imposed sanctions against 16 other firms, including some from China, for trading with Iran, Syria and North Korea in goods or technology that could be used for weapons, AFP said. For many other countries, the sanctions would draw a clear choice between doing business with the US or with Iran, Yin said, adding that for China, this would have a certain effect given that 40 percent of Iran's gasoline is imported. Iran last year attracted about $10 billion in foreign investments, and it has just concluded six new agreements with China worth $20 billion. The volume of Iran-China trade, currently at $30 billion, is expected to double by 2015. Despite China and Iran sharing trading and economic interests, China said that it would carefully study Iran's invitation to visit its nuclear facilities. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday that Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi held talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Tuesday. China believes dialogue and negotiations are the correct channels to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue. "We hope Iran and the six countries will hold a new round of dialogue as soon as possible and encourage it to step up cooperation with the IAEA," She added. Wednesday, an Iranian official denied a new UN report on the possible military aspect of Iran's atomic drive, saying the body was deviating from its rules due to Western influence. "The report brings up repetitive and boring content that is based on unfounded allegations and speculation regarding some activities with supposed military objectives," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, told AFP. Wang Jia and agencies contributed to this story |
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