UPDATE - China urges diplomatic solution to Iranian nuclear issue

​​​​​​​ADDS COMMENTS BY ISRAELI TOP DIPLOMAT IN SHANGHAI, ADDS DECK

By Berk Kutay Gokmen and Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - China urged a diplomatic and political solution Wednesday to Iran’s nuclear program, urging the parties to collaborate.

A statement by Beijing came after the Israeli consul general in Shanghai urged China to intervene.

“China wishes to see a durable and lasting ceasefire and peace and stability in the Middle East,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a news conference in Beijing, one day after Israeli Consul Ravit Baer said, “China is the only one capable of influencing Iran.”

Mao stressed that issues with the Iranian nuclear program should be “resolved through political and diplomatic means,” urging all sides to “work together to bring the Iranian nuclear issue back to the channel of political and diplomatic resolution.”

Baer said Tuesday that “Iran would collapse if China didn’t buy its oil.”

”A lot of the money and the revenues that come from selling oil — Iranian oil — in Iran goes to Iran’s malign activities in the region,” she told the Bloomberg news outlet Wednesday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced Wednesday the suspension of his country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after growing tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog over monitoring access and transparency in the wake of recent military confrontations with Israel and the US.

A 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran erupted June 13 when Israel launched air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing at least 935. Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes, killing at least 29, while the US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites.​​​​​​​

The conflict ended under a US-sponsored ceasefire that took effect June 24.