Iran calls on US and Israel to end military action

China says respects Tehran’s ‘legitimate right to peaceful use of nuclear energy”

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei called on the US and Israel to halt their military action. “They have to stop the war, it wasn’t us who started the war, this military aggression was not our choice, our choice was diplomacy,” he said, speaking at a weekly press conference in Tehran.

China respects Iran’s “legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday, while urging a stop to US military actions in favour of returning to talks and negotiations.

US strikes on Iran “during ongoing negotiations … violate international law and basic principles of international relations,” Spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

“The Iran nuclear issue should eventually return to the track of political and diplomatic settlement,” she added.

Mao also said China will take necessary measures to ensure its own energy security, when asked about the potential impact of U.S. military actions in Venezuela and Iran on China’s oil supply.

“Energy security is very important to the world economy, and all parties should ensure stable and smooth energy supply,” she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow had still not seen any evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump has said the war was needed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to thwart its long-range ballistic missile program.

Iran has denied it is seeking nuclear weapons and said the US and Israeli assault was unprovoked, occurring as Tehran and Washington were in negotiations on a nuclear accord.

Trump withdrew from a prior international agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear programme during his first term in 2018, three years after it was signed.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran is under threat as a result of the escalating conflict, the head of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Tuesday, according to the RIA state news agency.

“There is certainly a threat to the plant,” CEO Alexei Likhachev was cited as saying. “Explosions can be heard just kilometres away”, he added, saying the plant itself was not being targeted. Monitoring Desk