China urges sides concerned to accelerate redesign of Iran's Arak reactor

China has called on all sides concerned to accelerate "substantial work" for redesign and reconstruction of Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

A document assigning roles to each party involved has been signed by the Foreign Ministers of the E3+3 (China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the United States), Iran and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, according to an announcement by Mogherini on Sunday.

The document and redesign are part of nuclear negotiations that reached a conclusion in July, marking an end to decades of standoff between Iran and the West. Western states wanted Iran to modify the Arak reactor to a light one to address the concern of a technical path to a nuclear bomb, while Iran could not accept that demand.

To resolve the issue, China proposed to reduce the output of plutonium by technical means while keeping Iran's heavy water reactor, which won approval from both sides.

China is glad to see all sides have signed the document, which paves the way for the implementation of the Arak modernization project, Spokesperson Hong Lei told a routine press briefing on Monday.

Hong said the official document was a prerequisite for the start of substantial work for the Arak reactor's reconstruction. Now that all sides have signed, work can begin.

According to the document, China will "participate in the design and construction of the modernized reactor."

All sides should be committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the consensus to push forward the substantial work of the project, said Hong.

China, as a co-Chair of the E3/EU+3 Working Group, has played a constructive role in promoting the early conclusion of the document, Hong said, stressing that China will continue joint efforts with other parties involved.

The United States is another co-Chair of the Working Group. Endi