Clinton: China risks isolation, energy woes unless its supports Iran sanctions

Clinton: China risks isolation over Iran

PARIS — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning China that it risks diplomatic isolation and potential disruption to its energy supplies unless it supports new U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Speaking in Paris, Clinton told an audience at a military academy that she understood China’s reluctance to support imposing new penalties on Iran over its nuclear program. But she stressed that a nuclear-armed Iran would destabilize the Persian Gulf and imperil vital oil shipments China gets from the region.

China has traditionally resisted U.N. Security Council sanctions, saying they are counterproductive. But there is a new push for sanctions because of Iran’s continued defiance of demands that it prove its nuclear program is peaceful.