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Stir over Iran presidents trip to terror conference in China
A central Asian summit to discuss security issues is likely to be overshadowed by the presence of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the controversial president of Iran, who arrives in Shanghai on Wednesday. He will be an observer at Thursdays summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. The five-year-old grouping is one of Chinas first attempts at playing a bigger diplomatic role in the region but it is prompting growing concern in the US.Much attention will be focused on how China and Russia behave towards Iran and whether the countries discuss Irans nuclear fuel programme on the sidelines. China and Russia, both members of the United Nations Security Council, have been much less keen than the US or European governments to seek tougher action against Irans nuclear programme. China has been trying to build closer relations with a number of Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, because of its ever-growing demand for oil. Iran provides about 13 per cent of Chinas imports of oil and Beijing has signed a deal to buy liquefied natural gas from Iran and to allow a Chinese company to exploit the Yadavaran oilfield in Iran. Posted by: lotp 2006-06-14 |
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