China and Iran meet ahead of nuclear talks

Delegations from Iran and China called for dialogue during a bilateral meeting before the new round of nuclear talks began in Almaty Tuesday.

"Talks and dialogues will be the only correct solution to the Iran nulclear issue, which is always our stand," said Ma Zhaoxu, China's assistant foreign minister and representative to the Iran-P5+1 nuclear talks.

In a meeting with Ali Baqeri, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ma said "we hope that the sides of the talks will work together, caring for each other's interests and to promote the talks to make real progress."

Representatives of Iran and the UN Security Council's five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Germany, known as P5+1, and the EU, on Tuesday began a new round of talks concerning Iran's disputed nuclear program.

"The parties should take this opportunity and begin to negotiate in a realistic way, and promoting the dialogues to make new progress," Ma said.