"What Did China Get for Backing Iran Sanctions?
A week after announcing a uranium-swap agreement with Turkey and Brazil, Iran on Monday formally submitted the proposal to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna — and in doing so, as Tehran sees it, put the proverbial ball back in the court of the U.S. and its allies. But Washington preempted Iran's latest gambit the same day, by announcing a new package of U.N. sanctions to be presented to the Security Council with the all-important backing of China. Beijing had previously been the key obstacle to adopting new sanctions, insisting that such measures would be counterproductive and demanding that all sides go the extra mile to find a solution through dialogue. Judging by their reactions until now, the Chinese might have been expected to respond to the Turkey-Brazil-Iran proposal by demanding that any discussion of sanctions be postponed until the potential of the confidence-building mechanism had been tested. Instead, it backed the U.S., saying the onus was on Iran to do more to satisfy international concerns over the intent of its nuclear program. So what changed?"
More:What Did China Get for Backing Iran Sanctions? - TIME