China could be brought into negotiations planned in Moscow next month on a Russian plan to resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Russian foreign ministry said Monday.
Foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said that Russian-Iranian talks could take place in Moscow in mid-February. "It is possible that the format of the Moscow talks will be changed and that China will be included," he was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.
Russia is trying to persuade Iran to enter an arrangement under which the uranium needed to run its nuclear power programme will be enriched on Russian soil, rather than in Iran. The idea is seen as a way to ensure that Tehran is unable to use its uranium to build a nuclear weapon in secret.
China's foreign ministry said last week that the idea "would be a good attempt at breaking the stalemate."
Iran has yet to accept the plan, which has been given cautious and conditional support from the United States and European Union.
