NEW YORK, May 1: Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya on Sunday reiterated his country’s aversion to any sanctions resolution against Iran, warning that introducing a resolution on the Iranian nuclear issue under Chapter VII of the UN Charter could be “dangerous.”

“If you adopt a resolution not to reinforce the International Atomic Energy Agency’s authority, but to replace its authority that is dangerous,” he told a symposium at Chicago University.

The Chinese envoy insisted that the IAEA should be allowed to continue playing a leading role in seeking a solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

Later talking to reporters after the speech the Chinese ambassador recalled that the United States, Russia, China and the EU trio — Britain, Germany and France — agreed at a January ministerial meeting in London to report Iran’s nuclear issue to the Security Council. But the meeting also decided that the council’s mandate was to reinforce the authority of IAEA, Mr Wang said.

As shown by the IAEA’s latest report, Mr Wang said: “This is, in a sense, a technical issue and I don’t think the Security Council as a political organisation would be capable of doing this job.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday talk shows US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran on Sunday of “playing games” with the international community over its nuclear programme and said Washington will continue pressing for possible sanctions at the UN.