BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2019) China is opposed to unilateral sanctions as they will not help solve any problems, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Tuesday, commenting on the new US sanctions against Iran.
The US Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned nine individuals, including the son of the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian top officials and the General Staff of the Iranian armed forces. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi called the new US sanctions "useless."
"China has always opposed unilateral sanctions and extraterritorial jurisdiction. We think that sanctions can in no way solve the problem. Negotiations are the only right option," Geng said at a briefing.
The spokesperson expressed hope that the parties involved would settle their disputes based on mutual respect and equality, and maintain regional and international peace and stability.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, the United States abandoned its conciliatory policy on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and hitting Iranian petroleum industries with sanctions. Washington has since then introduced a number of restrictive measures in order to achieve Iran's concessions.
