Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - On the same day the Iranian oil minister, Massoud Mir-Kazemi arrived in Beijing to promote bilateral cooperation, the media published a statement of the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing, in defence of the nation’s trade relations with Iran.

Massoud Mir-Kazemi has held meetings with members of the Chinese government to enhance cooperation on energy, with projects and investment. China is now the largest trading partner, receiving in exchange oil for its economy. According to the Iranian Ministry, China has already invested 40 billion U.S. dollars in oil and gas in Iran.

But these friendly trade relations are being strongly criticised by other countries, lest they conceal aid to Iranian’s nuclear program. Last June the UN Security Council launched a fourth block of sanctions against Iran to curb its nuclear program which, according to Western countries and Israel, wants to build a nuclear arsenal.

On 2 August, Robert Einhorn, of the U.S. State Department criticized China, asking Beijing to follow through on the sanctions that the international community has established. "We want China to be a responsible stakeholder in the international system,” Einhorn said. “That means co-operating with the UN Security Council resolutions and it means not backfilling or not taking advantage of responsible self-restraint of other countries".

China’s economic and foreign policy to countries affected by sanctions or judged "pariahs" by the international community (see Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Guinea, etc ...) has often been branded as "immoral".  Beijing is often the only or principal trading partner.

Jiang Yu, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, confirmed today that "China's trade with Iran is a normal trade, which does not harm the interests of other nations and the international community."