China has defended its business dealings with Iran after a senior U.S. official called on Beijing to follow U.N. sanctions against the Islamic republic to the letter.
The statement from a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman published in state media Thursday also came after a senior U.S. lawmaker called for sanctions to be imposed on Beijing over its major investments in Tehran's energy sector.
"China's trade with Iran is normal business exchange, which will not harm the interests of other countries and the international community," the spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.
"As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has always observed the council's resolutions," Jiang Yu added.
In June, the U.N. Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear drive, which the West and Israel say is a covert weapons drive, and especially over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.
China, which wields a veto on the council, backed the U.N. measures, but it has since voiced opposition to further unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, instead calling for more negotiations.
On Monday, Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control, appealed to China to fully back sanctions on both Iran and North Korea, also suspected of developing nuclear weapons.
"We want China to be a responsible stakeholder in the international system," Einhorn said during a visit to Seoul.
"That means cooperating with the U.N. Security Council resolutions and it means not backfilling or not taking advantage of responsible self-restraint of other countries."
A U.S. embassy spokesman in Beijing said Einhorn was not expected in China this week, but could visit later this month.
Also on Monday, U.S. lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee -- said investments by Chinese state-run firms in Iran's energy sector were "effectively bankrolling" its nuclear program.
Ros-Lehtinen did not offer details, but U.S. officials have noted that Chinese firms have been stepping in to fill the void left by companies leaving Iran because of U.N. and U.S. sanctions.
"It's time to implement our sanctions laws and demonstrate to Russia and China that there are consequences for abetting Tehran and flouting U.S. sanctions," she said in a statement.
"Russia and China appear determined to continue to facilitate Iran's dangerous policies. This must not be allowed to continue without serious repercussions."
China has emerged as Iran's closest trading partner and has major energy interests in the Islamic republic.
China is investing $ 40 billion in Iran's oil and gas industry, the Islamic republic's deputy oil minister Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi said Saturday. Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi is due in Beijing this week.
Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to China, the world's second-biggest consumer of oil after the United States.
In the first half of 2010, Iran held its place as China's third biggest supplier of crude with shipments of 9 million tons of oil, putting it behind Saudi Arabia and Angola, according to Chinese customs data.
The United States has urged China to tap other suppliers, but China has condemned unilateral U.S. and E.U. sanctions against Iran.
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