Rudd urges China to stop buying Iran oil

20 Jan 2012, 8:02 am   -   Source: AAP
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Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has urged China to join the West in putting pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has urged China to stop buying oil from Iran and join the West in putting pressure on the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear program.

Stressing that it was not for Australia to dictate to others, Mr Rudd said importers of Iranian oil should be mindful of the international community's efforts to pressure Iran, and that China "should reflect seriously on this".

"For those countries who continue to import we would urge them to be mindful of the actions of others in the international community who are seeking to bring about the pressure necessary to get a change in the Iranian government position," Mr Rudd told reporters in Paris on Thursday.

"We would urge our friends in Beijing but elsewhere as well in Asia to reflect seriously on this," Mr Rudd said after talks with his French counterpart Alain Juppe.

Mr Juppe confirmed that he hoped the European Union would agree fresh sanctions against Iran at a meeting in Brussels on Monday. "Sanctions must be toughened to make the Iranian regime evolve," he said.

"I think that on Monday during the meeting of European Union foreign ministers we will be able to agree on a sanctions program in the two domains," Juppe said, referring to finance and oil.

The comments came after Chinese premier Wen Jiabao defended China's vast oil trade with Iran as legitimate while stressing the Beijing government's opposition to Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons.

"China has normal trading relations with Iran, but will not bargain away its principles. We support the UN resolutions related to the Iranian nuclear issue," Wen told reporters in gas-rich Qatar on Wednesday.

"China's oil trade with Iran is a normal commercial activity," he said, amid fears rising tensions over Iran's nuclear program will disrupt world oil supplies.

Wen's defence of China's trade with Iran came as the West ups the stakes in its standoff with Iran, threatening to impose sanctions on the oil exports of the Islamic republic, which provides 11 per cent of China's oil imports.

Iran is the third largest provider of oil to China.

The West fears Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is purely for civilian use.

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