China scales back Iran nuclear cooperation ‘due to fears of US sanctions’
- Islamic Republic’s nuclear agency says China is dragging its feet on work to redesign reactor agreed as part of international nuclear deal that Donald Trump has since tried to end
- Iran’s claim that China fears its companies will be hit with sanctions comes amid ongoing efforts to resolve stand-off with Washington
China has slowed down its work on an Iranian nuclear project amid Beijing’s current high-stakes negotiations with the United States.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), said on Wednesday that the Chinese were “reducing the speed of cooperation despite their commitment” to redesign the Arak heavy water reactor.
Salehi told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency that China fears possible US sanctions on its nuclear-related firms if it continues its cooperation with his country.
He also urged China to re-engage with the project, but insisted that Iran had “alternative choices” if it continued to drag its feet.
The project was agreed as part of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the five UN permanent Security Council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – plus Germany and the EU under which the Islamic republic would scale back its nuclear activities in exchange for reduced sanctions.