Jerusalem, February 24: Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer flew to China on Wednesday to urge Beijing to back tough sanctions against Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons project.
Fischer, known to China from his time as a senior official of the IMF and World Bank, was accompanied by Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, Moshe Yaalon, and representatives of Israel’s National Security Council, Yaalon’s spokesman said.
“They will discuss issues of common interest with the Chinese. This includes the Iranian issue, which is important for the Chinese as well as Israel,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week called for an immediate embargo on Iran’s energy sector.
Of the five members of the United Nations Security Council with veto power, China is most resistant to employing global sanctions to force Tehran to abandon its alleged atom-bomb plans, saying diplomacy can resolve the issue.
Beijing sees Iran as an important oil supplier and trade partner and a major strategic actor in the Middle East, where China, the world’s No. 2 crude oil consumer, is buying growing volumes of oil.
Iran has the world’s second-largest crude oil reserves, but desperately needs investment to develop them. It denies working to develop a nuclear warhead but insists on its right to create nuclear power-generating capacity.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of the Jewish state. His government supports the Shi’te Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which Israel fought in a 2006 war, and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which was the target of Israel’s December 2008-January 2009 offensive to put a stop to rocket fire from militias in the Gaza Strip.
—Agencies