Iran accuses U.S. of bullying China on U.N. sanctions

Iran accuses U.S. of bullying China on U.N. sanctionsU. N. sanctions against Iran amounted to worthless paper and accused the United States of bullying China into going along with them, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Iranian president, while visiting Shanghai, seemed conciliatory toward China while expressing anger for the United States and Israel.

Ahmadinejad said, "We have very good relations with China, and we have no reason to weaken our relations with China. I said the problem is the United States."

The Post further reported that Ahmadinejad said Washington had engaged in "pressure and intimidation" along with "bullying" to get nations on the Security Council to go along with the sanctions.

Their vote for sanctions was not likely to harm relations toward Iran, with whom they conduct billions of dollars in trade and energy projects, Chinese officials have said.

Yin Gang, a professor with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, said, "The sanctions won't affect the trade between China and Iran. There is no possibility that Iran will take revenge or any anti-sanction measures toward China, which will be harmful to Iran, too." (With Inputs from Agencies)