Brussels, 02/08/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 30 July, China announced its opposition to the new sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union over Teheran's controversial nuclear programme. “China does not favour the unilateral sanctions imposed by the European Union on Iran. We hope all parties concerned adhere to diplomatic means and properly resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations”, said the spokesperson to the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, Jiang Yu. On Monday 26 July, the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the EU approved stricter sanctions against Iran, which refuses to abandon its uranium enrichment programme (EUROPE 10188). Iran recently wrote to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano on the resumption of talks on the trade in nuclear fuel. China wants negotiations between Iran and the Vienna Group (United States, France, Russia and the IAEA) to start as soon as possible, Ms Jiang Yu stressed. “We hope that the parties concerned will reach consensus on this issue as soon as possible, which will help to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations”, she concluded. Russia has also spoken out against unilateral sanctions taken by the Europeans. Canada, the US and Australia have, like the EU, announced restrictive measures against Teheran. (B.C./trans.fl)