“Competition, as you know, does define our relationship with China but we do have in some cases rather narrow areas of tactical alignment. We’ve spoken to some of those in recent days and it so happens that Iran is one of them,” Price said. “China has been cooperative in efforts to constrain Iran’s nuclear program.”
Price pointed out that China is an original member of the P5+1 group and Beijing has “no interest in seeing Iran develop a nuclear weapon and the profoundly destabilizing impact that would have on the region upon which China does depend.”
Price stressed that Washington and Beijing are aligned in the matter of the Iran nuclear program.
“We have been engaged with all parties to include China on the question of the JCPOA and what comes next,” the spokesperson said. “We remain ready to engage in meaningful dialogue with Iran as we have said to find a mutual return to the JCPOA and a mutual return to those commitments. And of course, we will continue to engage China and other countries to discourage them from taking steps vis-a-vis Iran or any other issue that threatens our interests."
Asked to comment on the recently-concluded Iran-China agreement, Price said, “When it comes to our broad posture, our current Iran-related sanctions remain in effect unless and until they are lifted as part of a diplomatic process.”
“We will address any efforts at sanction evasion,” he stressed.
In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with the P5+1 group of countries (the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom - plus Germany) and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption. In 2018, the US abandoned its conciliatory stance on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and implementing hard-line policies against Tehran, prompting Iran to largely abandon its obligations under the accord.