China on Tuesday called for continued talks on a nuclear fuel deal for Iran, as Tehran said it had stepped up its enrichment of uranium following Western calls for tougher sanctions over its atomic work.
"We hope the relevant parties will exchange views on the draft deal on the Tehran research reactor and reach common ground at an early date which will help solve the issue," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said.
"I hope relevant parties will step up efforts to push forward dialogue on this question."
The United States and France had said Monday they would push for "strong" new UN anti-nuclear sanctions against Iran after Tehran announced it was going to step up its enrichment of uranium.
Iran then said Tuesday that it had gone ahead and begun enriching uranium to 20 percent purity level at its Natanz plant in defiance of world powers — but under the supervision of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog.
A deal brokered by the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, envisages Iran being supplied with nuclear fuel for the medical research reactor in Tehran in exchange for its low-enriched uranium (LEU).
But the Islamic republic, although saying it is ready "in principle" to sign on to it, insists that not all its LEU be shipped out at one time.
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