China Acknowledges Sales of Nuclear Equipment to Iran

BEIJING —  In an unusually open defense of its international dealings in nuclear technology, China has acknowledged that it sold nuclear equipment to Iran but insisted it was for peaceful purposes.

The Foreign Ministry statement came in apparent response to allegations made in Washington last week that China had sold Iran equipment capable of making enriched uranium that could be used in atomic bombs.

“Chinese and Iranian companies signed commercial contracts . . . in 1989 and 1991” for China to provide the Iranians “with an electromagnetic separator for producing isotopes and a mini-type reactor, both of which were to be used only for peaceful purposes,” the official New China News Agency reported on Monday, quoting a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Atomic bombs can be made using a uranium isotope that can be concentrated with such equipment. The Chinese statement thus appeared to confirm the essence of charges made in Washington.

But with typical Chinese rhetoric, the statement also flatly declared that “the reports carried by some Western newspapers and magazines alleging that China has provided Iran with materials, equipment and technology that can be used to produce nuclear weapons are utterly groundless.”

It said the items that China sold Iran are used for medical diagnosis and nuclear physics research.