China Says Open to Meeting with US Defense Secretary 

China's State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 12, 2022. (Reuters)
China's State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 12, 2022. (Reuters)
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China Says Open to Meeting with US Defense Secretary 

China's State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 12, 2022. (Reuters)
China's State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 12, 2022. (Reuters)

China said on Sunday it is open to a meeting with the US defense secretary on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Cambodia this week, in a sign of thawing relations after the countries' top leaders met earlier this month.  

China Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and US Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd previously confirmed separately that they would attend the forum with Southeast Asian countries, the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus.  

On Sunday, China's defense ministry issued a statement featuring a question about whether the two would meet, with spokesman Tan Kefei quoted as saying, "China holds a proactive and open attitude for exchange with the United States."  

He also said both sides are coordinating regarding an "exchange" at the forum, set to take place on Wednesday.  

A meeting would represent the first high-level military exchange between the countries since China halted regular dialogue between military commanders in August in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. 

China regards democratically ruled Taiwan as a renegade province.  

In Indonesia last week, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit, China President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden held their first face-to-face meeting since the latter took office in early 2021.  

Ties between the world's two largest economies have deteriorated in recent years amid issues such as trade, human rights and Taiwan. 



Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called "snapback mechanism" if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.

The "snapback mechanism" is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference, without giving further details.

The 2015 deal with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - states that if the parties cannot resolve accusations of "significant non-performance" by Iran, the "snapback mechanism" process can be triggered by the 15-member UN Security Council.

"The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA," Baghaei said.

"They have failed to fulfill the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism."

Western countries accuse Iran of plotting to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

The United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump, who called the agreement "weak".

Trump, whose second presidency began in January, has urged Tehran to return to nuclear negotiations on a new deal after a ceasefire was reached last month that ended a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel that destabilized the Middle East.

When asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Baghaei said no date or location had been set for resuming the US-Iran nuclear talks.