China Agrees to Work With U.S. on New Iran Sanctions

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Jintao and Obama discuss Iran

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China and U.S. Share the Same Overall Goal on the Iranian Nuclear Issue

Progress was made today for U.S. President Barack Obama as he led the largest meeting of world leaders since 1945. At the end of Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit, the American President had a one-on-one meeting with Chinese leader, Hu Jintao, to discuss new sanctions on halting Iran’s nuclear program. 

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According to Haaretz, the meeting with the leaders of 47 nations was successful and Jintao has finally agreed to work together with Obama on developing new UN sanctions against Iran. Obama had been hoping for China’s cooperation for a long time as it was unclear what its stance was on Iran was. However, today China declared before the summit that it shares the same concerns as the U.S. that the threat of nuclear weapons poses danger to everyone’s security. 

China Support Crucial

China had, until today, been reluctant to support UN sanctions against Iran. Securing Jintao’s support for new sanctions was crucial in the battle against a nuclear Iran since China had veto power against any UN resolution. Along with the support of the other 46 other nations, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, hopes to move forward the U.S. call for action at the UN Security Council.  

On Obama’s website, he reveals that the biggest threat to the U.S. right now is nuclear weapons landing in the hands of terrorists and fears al Qaeda is getting closer to doing so. 

Spearheaded by Obama, the Summit came on the heels of Obama’s other accomplishments in the past few weeks. He outlined the Nuclear Posture Review which outlines the guidelines for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which is to be followed by member states. He also signed a nuclear arms treaty with Russia which will see both nations reduce their nuclear stockpiles in the following years.