China backs Iran right to 'peaceful nuclear energy,' diplomat says
China supports Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and opposes the use of force and sanctions pressure, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.
“China supports Iran’s legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said during talks in Beijing with Iran’s deputy foreign minister, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Liu said China would continue to promote what he described as the proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they seized two vessels involved in fuel smuggling in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island.
The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it discovered more than one million litters of smuggled fuel on board the two vessels and detained 15 foreign crew members, who were handed over to judicial authorities.
The vessels were operating near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, the Guards said in a statement carried by state media.
The Guards said the vessels were part of an organized network that had carried out fuel smuggling operations over recent months and were identified through surveillance and intelligence work before being seized.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Ankara was doing its utmost to prevent tensions between the United States and Iran from dragging the region into a new conflict.
Speaking to reporters on a return flight from Egypt, Erdogan said diplomacy remained possible and negotiations at lower levels could pave the way for leader-level talks if progress was made.
He added that both the United States and Iran wanted to open a path for diplomacy, describing that approach as positive.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had held intensive contacts with officials from Qatar, Oman and Iran, as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff, to push efforts to de-escalate regional tensions.
According to the statement, Abdelatty held calls separately with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The discussions focused on reducing escalation in the region and developments related to a planned meeting between the United States and Iran in Oman, the ministry said.
Egypt will continue its diplomatic efforts with regional partners and both the US and Iran to advance political solutions, the ministry added.
The Australian Senate on Thursday passed a motion condemning Iran’s crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests that began in late December, citing killings, mass arrests and internet blackouts imposed on civilians.
The motion said senators noted “with grave concern” reports of indiscriminate killings of civilians, the targeting of women and children, mass arrests and internet and communications blackouts. It also acknowledged the distress felt by Iranian-Australians unable to contact relatives in Iran.
It called on the Albanese government to keep working with international partners, including the United Nations, to support independent investigations into human rights violations in Iran, press for accountability, expand targeted sanctions and push for an end to violence, executions and communications restrictions.
Labor Senator Raff Ciccone, one of the co-sponsors, said in a post on X that the Senate had condemned “the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of peaceful protesters” and reaffirmed Australia’s solidarity with the Iranian people and the Iranian-Australian community.
His comments followed earlier action this week, when Australia imposed new sanctions on 20 individuals and three entities linked to Iran’s security apparatus over the protest crackdown.
Speaking in the Senate earlier this week, Ciccone said he supported the government’s steps and voiced solidarity with Iranians protesting inside the country.
“Since 28 December last year, the Iranian regime has responded to peaceful protests with extraordinary and horrifying violence against its own people,” he told parliament.
He said authorities had tried to hide the scale of the crackdown. “The regime has attempted to conceal the scale of its brutality through nationwide internet and telecommunication blackouts,” he said.
Referring to the new sanctions, Ciccone said they targeted those responsible for repression, including figures linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “These sanctions are not symbolic; they are targeted, deliberate and designed to impose real consequences on those responsible for repression and violence,” he said.
Ciccone also highlighted the impact on Iranians living in Australia. “Members of the Australian Iranian community have watched these events unfold with profound anguish,” he said, adding that many had relatives at risk.
“Australia’s message is clear: the use of violence against civilians, the silencing of dissent and the systemic denial of human rights will not be met with indifference,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticized Germany’s stance on Iran after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin was ready to increase pressure to end Tehran’s nuclear program.
“We are ready to further increase the pressure and to engage in talks that serve the purpose of a swift end to the Iranian nuclear program,” Merz wrote on X on Wednesday.
In response, Araghchi said Germany had abandoned a constructive role in diplomacy, pointing to Berlin’s earlier support for restoring UN sanctions on Iran. While emphasizing Iran’s long-standing relations with Germany and praising the German people, he added: “We hope that more mature and honorable political leadership will return to Germany.”
