China Welcomes Putin’s Proposed Summit on Iran

China on Monday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposed summit of world leaders to avoid “confrontation” over a US threat to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran.
The United States lost a bid on Friday to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran.
Russia and China opposed the extension of the weapons ban, which is due to expire in October under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Eleven members abstained, including France, Germany and Britain, while the United States and the Dominican Republic were the only two votes in favor.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said the failure of US resolution “again showed that unilateralism has no popular support and hegemonic behavior will not succeed”, Reuters reported.  
The United States needed to end its unilateral sanctions and adopt a rational attitude, returning to the “correct path” of respecting the Iran nuclear agreement and UN Security Council decisions, Zhao added.
“As for the Russian proposal for a teleconference summit on the Iran nuclear issue, China expresses its welcome and appreciation,” he said.
“We are willing to continue to maintain close communication and coordination with all parties concerned to jointly promote a political settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.”
China, which has close economic and diplomatic ties with Iran, has frequently clashed with the Trump administration over its tough stance against Tehran, which has become another irritant in Sino-US relations.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday all but dismissed Putin’s call for a summit of world leaders to discuss Iran, saying he probably would not participate.
Trump also said he intended to move next week to trigger a “snapback” of sanctions on Iran at the United Nations.
“We’ll be doing a snapback,” Trump told reporters one day after the UN Security Council rejected the US bid against Iran.
The US has threatened to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran using a provision in a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, known as snapback, even though Trump abandoned the accord in 2018. 
Diplomats predict that the United States would face a tough, messy battle that have no prospects of success.