UNITED NATIONS - China said here on Tuesday that negotiation and dialogue is the right path to address the Iran nuclear issue, calling on relevant parties to remain patient and take proactive measures to push forward the process.

Li Baodong, the Chinese ambassador to the UN, made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting on a 1737 Committee report.

Since last December, the six powers -- China, Russia, the United States, Britain, France and Germany, the EU and Iran have held two rounds of talks, during which the participating parties confirmed the basic approach of talking for cooperation and finding common ground and also expressed readiness for continued dialogue, Li said.

At the recent meeting of IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) board of governors, the six powers also expressed their common position of continuing engagement with Iran on the basis of reciprocity and step-by-step approach and of establishing a cooperative relationship with Iran in many fields, Li added.

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"China believes as long as all sides remain patient, flexible and pragmatic and take proactive measures to enhance mutual confidence, dialogue and negotiation will make headway," Li said.

The West suspects Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists its atomic energy program is peaceful.

As a state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Iran is entitled to peaceful use of nuclear energy, Li said, adding it should also fulfill its relevant international obligations at the same time.

"We hope that Iran will take initiatives to enhance the international community's confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program," Li said.

He said China will continue to work with all sides in these respects and play a constructive role in this process.

The 1737 Committee is a UN Security Council committee established pursuant to Resolution 1737. It was established on December 23, 2006 to undertake the tasks set out in paragraph 18 of that same resolution. The mandate of the Committee has since been expanded to apply also to the measures imposed in resolutions 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) and to the measures decided in Resolution 1929 (2010).