China hopes peaceful settlement of Iran nuclear issue

China has called for dialogue and negotiation to peacefully address the Iranian nuclear issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday.

At a regular press briefing, he said that sanctions and using force can not fundamentally resolve the issue but may generate problems. Hong said these could have a negative impact on the peace and stability in the Middle East and the world.

Hong was responding to a question concerning reports about the Iranian nuclear issue.

Dialogue on Iranian nuclear issue is going through a critical phase at present, the spokesman said.

He said China hoped relevant parties would step up diplomatic efforts and enhance cooperation to start a new round of talks between countries and Iran at an early date.

Reports said that an Iranian official had recently claimed that the country would enrich uranium to a purity level of more than 20 percent if the West refused to ease sanctions against Iran. Analysts believed that it may raise fears of Israeli military action.