Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will push for "dramatic" sanctions aimed at stalling Iran's nuclear drive during a two-day visit to China, she was quoted as saying on Sunday.
"This is the time to impose dramatic sanctions on Iran. Any hesitation on the international community's part would be interpreted as a sign of weakness, by Iran and by its neighbours," Livni said, according to the Ynet news service.
"We need to impose broad, effective sanctions that would carry deeper meaning... China has critical influence in that aspect," she said.
Livni's visit to Beijing comes a week after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travelled to Paris and London with similar demands for tougher sanctions against Iran, which Israel and the West accuse of pursuing nuclear weapons.
Iran has always denied the charge, insisting that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. On her two-day visit Livni is scheduled to meet Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
Earlier this month, the United States announced that the six major powers involved in the Iran nuclear issue - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - would meet in Europe in early November to discuss Western calls for tighter sanctions.
At their last meeting in September, foreign ministers from the six powers decided to put off any consideration of new sanctions until the International Atomic Energy Agency and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana have reported on the progress of their talks with Iran. Widely regarded as the Middle East's sole if undeclared new nuclear power, Israel regards Iran as its principal strategic threat.
Comments
Comments are closed.