CHINA BEGINS TO TURN AGAINST IRAN

Iran slipped further into global isolation on Thursday as China, its traditional ally, warned Tehran against its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

This comes from the Zionist friendly lamestream media. Talmudic (Communist) China seems to be listening to or taking orders from the international bankers and their ilk again. It is interesting how Iran, a nation that has not started ANY wars of aggression for hundreds of years has become a rogue or pariah state!

The fear is that the graciousness that is Iran, the honesty in international matters, much like Qaddafi’s, might take root because the leaders tell the truth, not follow the internationally forcefed belief in deceptions upon which Israhell is based.

It is deplorable that this cultured and beautiful country is so demonized due to the influence of the Zionists who covet its possessions and assets ~ and control the majority of international media. 

Let us not forget that they also want to complete the work of Esther; they celebrate the bloodthirsty feast of Purim annually to keep that memory alive and well in their revenge-filled consciousness.

And then there is simply the fact that Persia is a highly cultured country full of very beautiful people who have moral values.  That need to defile is strong in the Zionist nature, to blight that which is beautiful.

So, according to this article, Iran’s “ally” China, who has, actually, been hemming and hawing, has united with the rest of the Israeli/American sycophants.

Update: ten minutes after posting the first article, I came across the second (now posted) from the SAME online British newspaper which takes a very different conciliatory stance. YOU figure it out! 

'China adamantly opposes Iran developing and possessing nuclear weapons,' Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, said Photo: EPA

By Malcolm Moore, Henry Samuel and Damien McElroy

The Telegraph

January 19, 2012

After a visit to the Gulf in which he met the leaders of the states most threatened by Iran's aggressive foreign policy, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, issued Beijing's clearest condemnation yet . 

ED: EXCUSE ME!!!!!! IRAN'S aggressive policy? That should make you choke in righteous indignation, Dear Reader!

"China adamantly opposes Iran developing and possessing nuclear weapons," he said. 

China appears to have sent a message to Iran that it could not rely on Beijing's unstinting support by reducing its imports of oil at a time when the US and Europe are promoting an embargo on the country. 

The Washington Post reported that China trimmed its oil imports from Iran in January from a daily average of around 550,000 barrels to 285,000 barrels a day. 

Chinese foreign policy experts said the statement demonstrated that Beijing would not allow its international position to end up beholden to Iran. 

Mr Wen's trip to three of the world's biggest oil-and-gas producers was described by some commentators as an attempt to seek alternative energy sources, although he politely denied this was the case: 

"Some people said my visit was to secure oil, which is narrow-minded. I came here for friendship." 

ED: If you believe THAT, he has a seaside cottage in the Gobi to sell you at a cut rate price.

"Iran would not have wanted China to make this statement, but Iran must understand that if it comes down to a choice China will not alienate itself from the rest of the world for the sake of single country," said Yu Guoqing, a researcher on the Middle East at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 

With a second front of pressure opening up on Iran over its support for the Syrian regime's crackdown on nationwide protests, Tehran has moved closer to global pariah status. 

French officials yesterday told Le Figaro newspaper that Iran was training 50 members of Syria's elite Republican Guard in anti-sedition techniques in Tehran. The troop commanders travelled to Tehran following a visit to Damascus at the start of the month by Qasim Suleimani, the head of Iran's overseas military interests. Gen Suleimani agreed to provide training for Syrian officers over the next nine months, an official told the paper. The French said the officers were members of Unit 101 from the elite 15,000-man Republican Guard force mostly recruited from President Assad's Alawi minority. 

Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said EU foreign ministers would seal an oil embargo against Iran and a freeze on the assets of its central bank at a meeting on Monday. 

European Commission officials revealed details of the embargo which would impose a ban immediately but honour existing contracts until July 1. 

The full embargo could still be review in July as officials determine the impact so far on oil prices. Greece, in particular, is in economic trouble and relies on Iranian oil. 

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if the embargo goes ahead, fanning fears of a slide into wider Middle East war. 

But the regime has also hinted that it could be open to negotiations by claiming that it was entertaining a secret invite from President Barack Obama to open direct talks. Iran claimed the appeal was contained in a secret letter to the Islamic Republic's supreme leader that also warned Tehran against closing the Strait of Hormuz. 

"They are flexing their muscle (in public), but they are also secretly saying: 'Come talk with us,'" Ali Akbar Salehi, the foreign minister said on a visit to Turkey. "The US government should act in an open and honest way." 

Dear Reader, how is one NOT to be confused. The following is from the SAME day publication of the Telegraph. It almost completely contradicts the first posted.

CHINESE PREMIER WEN JIABAO DEFENDS IRAN OIL IMPORTS

The Telegraph

January 19, 2012

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao defended his country's oil trade with Iran against Western sanctions pressure in comments published on Thursday, and yet also warned that Beijing firmly opposes any efforts by Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.

Mr Wen spoke on Wednesday at the end of a six-day visit to the Middle East against a backdrop of tensions over possible US sanctions on nations that do energy trade with Iran, which Western powers say is focused on developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear goals are peaceful, and in late December threatened to punish the latest Western sanctions by choking off oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for much of the Middle East's oil exports.

Mr Wen said his government "adamantly opposes Iran developing and possessing nuclear weapons," and warned against potential confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Beijing officials are usually much more coy about even suggesting that Iran could be seeking nuclear arms.

Speaking at a news conference in Doha, Mr Wen also took aim at both potential threats to China's oil imports: the US sanctions pressure and the Hormuz tensions.

"I also want to clearly point out that China's oil trade with Iran is normal trade activity," he said in response to a question about US and European efforts to curtail Iranian oil exports and revenues, according to a transcript on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

"Legitimate trade should be protected, otherwise the world economic order would fall into turmoil," he added.

But Mr Wen shrugged off worry about China's oil needs.

"I don't have this or that worry about China's oil supplies, and this time I didn't discuss this issue with the leaders of each country," he told the news conference, according to the official Chinese transcript.

Mr Wen visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

His comments laid bare the tricky course Beijing is trying to steer between pressure from Washington and its allies and expectations from Iran, which looks to China as a sympathetic power and its chief oil customer.

The tensions are a particular worry for China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, followed by India and Japan. Only Saudi Arabia and Angola sell more crude than Iran to China.

"We believe that, no matter what the circumstances, the security of the Gulf of Hormuz and normal shipping passage through it must be guaranteed, because this is in the interests of the whole world," said Mr Wen.

"Any extreme measures on this issue would violate the wishes of all countries in the world and their people."

The Obama administration last week invoked U.S. law to sanction China's state-run Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, which it said was Iran's largest supplier of refined petroleum products.

The United States is also working out how to enforce a law enacted on Dec 31 that targets foreign financial institutions doing business with Iran's central bank, notably to buy crude.

China has backed U.N. Security Council resolutions calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment activities, while working to ensure its energy ties are not threatened.

In the first 11 months of 2011, Chinese crude imports from Iran were at about 553,000 barrels per day, a gain of nearly 30 per cent on the same period a year before, according to Chinese customs data.