Chair,

China supports the joint statement made by Venezuelan Ambassador on behalf of the relevant countries. We would like to further elaborate the Chinese position as following:

Israel and the United States brazenly launched attacks on nuclear facilities of Iran that are under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), leading to a major reversal in the situation regarding the Iranian nuclear issue. Armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities violate the principles of the UN Charter, international law, and the IAEA Statute. These are important principles jointly affirmed by resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, and the IAEA General Conference, and represent a long-standing consensus among IAEA Member States. The international community and the IAEA must strongly condemn this egregious act that defies international norms.

China has noted the Director General's report on safeguards and verification in Iran and appreciates the progress made by Iran and the IAEA in relevant dialogue and cooperation, including inspections of unattacked nuclear facilities. The Board of Governors has concluded its deliberations on the item of " Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231".

During the Board of Governor meeting in September, with the active promotion of Egypt and other parties, DG Grossi and Iran reached the Cairo Agreement, this positive development should have been an important opportunity for both sides to fully restore safeguards and verification cooperation. However, the E3 went its own way and forcibly activated the snapback mechanism, seriously undermining the positive momentum of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.The Iranian nuclear issue is currently in a predicament, and the countries that have wantonly used force and are obsessed with confrontation and pressure are undoubtedly to blame.

China wishes to reiterate that force and confrontation cannot solve the problem. The Iranian nuclear issue can only be properly resolved through political and diplomatic efforts and safeguards cooperation within the IAEA framework, on the premise of fully respecting Iran's legitimate right as a party to the NPT to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and ensuring the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. Within the IAEA framework, the only way to properly handle the Iranian nuclear issue is to encourage and promote dialogue and the restoration of cooperation between the Secretariat and Iran, ensuring that safeguards in Iran can be carried out smoothly and effectively without political obstacles. History has repeatedly proven that forcibly pushing for confrontational resolutions on Iran in the Board of Governors can only add fuel to the fire and make matters worse.

China actively advocates upholding sovereign equality, abiding by the rule of international law, and practicing multilateralism. We adhere to a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, attaches importance to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and insists on resolving international differences through dialogue and consultation rather than conflict and confrontation. These are precisely the important concepts embodied in the global governance and global security initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping.

Under the current circumstances, the Board of Governors should promote the smooth progress of discussions on the Iranian nuclear issue, create favorable conditions for cooperation and dialogue between Iran and the IAEA, foster a positive atmosphere for a new round of political and diplomatic efforts on the Iranian nuclear issue, and avoid pushing the Iranian nuclear issue further onto a path of confrontation.

In light of the above, China does not support the US and the E3's push for the Iran nuclear resolution and will vote against it.