Stung by UN vote,Tehran calls Beijing two-faced

A day after the United Nations Security Council approved new sanctions against Iran,the authorities in Tehran threatened on Thursday to revise their relations with the UNs nuclear watchdog....

A day after the United Nations Security Council approved new sanctions against Iran,the authorities in Tehran threatened on Thursday to revise their relations with the UNs nuclear watchdog.

State-run Press TV quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi,the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy in the Iranian Parliament as saying legislators would meet on Sunday to push for legislation to reduce Irans relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

China supported the sanctions and on Thursday,Ali Akbar Salehi,the head of Irans Atomic Energy Organization,sharply criticised Beijing,saying Chinese support for the new measures would affect its standing in the Muslim world.

There was a time when China called the United States a paper tiger, he said. I am perplexed that China accepted the resolution against Iran in the Security Council. What name does China deserve? he asked,accusing China of two-faced behaviour in its divergent policies toward the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.

China supports North Korea which is not even signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty NPT but adopts a resolution against Iran which is both NPT signatory and all its nuclear projects under the surveillance of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, he said.

Ahead of the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in China on Thursday,Beijing defended its decision to back the UN resolution slapping sanctions against Iran. China rejected Tehrans assertion that the decision to back the UN resolution imposing sanctions would affect Beijings standing in the Islamic world.

China highly values relations with Iran and feels they are conducive to regional peace,stability and development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a media briefing here

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We believe on the basis of unity,mutual trust and cooperation,relations between China and Muslim countries will withstand all tests and move forward, he said,reacting to assertions by Irans nuclear chief negotiator that Beijings move would affect its ties with the Islamic world.

Salehi accused Beijing of double standards by adopting a different position towards its communist ally North Korea,which has abandoned the Non-Proliferation Treaty while Iran remains an adherent

The Chinese spokesman,however,denied the double standards allegation saying that I can tell you China always adhered to independent policy of peace and did not follow double standards.

Qin also said Ahmadinejad,who was due in Shanghai on Thursday,would take part in the Iranian National Day celebrations being organised at the Iranian Pavilion at Shanghai expo.