China on Tuesday said it still favoured more international talks on Iran's nuclear programme, one day after the United States said it had discussed possible new sanctions against Iran, DPA reported.
"Dialogue and negotiation are the right way of properly solving the Iran nuclear issue, and there is still room for diplomatic efforts," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.
"We hope the relevant parties take more flexible and pragmatic measures and step up diplomatic efforts in a bid to resume talks as soon as possible," Jiang said.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the United States had not closed the door on negotiations despite Iran's rejection of a deadline of December 31, 2009 set by six world powers for a uranium exchange deal.
The United States and the four other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - Britain, China, France and Russia - as well as Germany, threatened Iran with new punitive measures if it did not accept a compromise deal by the end of last year.
Clinton said the United States wanted to "keep the door to dialogue open," but she said the international powers "cannot continue to stand by when the Iranians themselves talk about increasing their production of highly enriched uranium."
In Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said he would welcome a return to negotiations.
"We would welcome a return to the course of understanding if we witness a pragmatic approach (by world powers) towards our legitimate (nuclear) rights," he told reporters.
According to a plan brokered in October by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's low-enriched uranium was to be exported to Russia and France for further enrichment of up to 20 per cent and processing into fuel for a Tehran medical reactor.
The West has been urging Iran to accept the deal by the end of 2009, but Tehran rejected the offer, insisting that the uranium swap has to take place in Iran.
Iran says that as signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of the IAEA, it has the right to pursue civil nuclear technology and would not allow world powers to deprive the Islamic state of this right for political reasons.
The West fears, however, that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Tehran kept its nuclear work secret from the IAEA for almost two decades and failed to cooperate fully with the agency's inspectors.