China balks at proposed financial bans on Iran (Evelyn Leopold)

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China, backed by Russia, balked Friday at financial sanctions against Iran during talks among six powers on a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would penalize Tehran for its nuclear program.

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- China, backed by Russia, balked Friday at financial sanctions against Iran during talks among six powers on a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would penalize Tehran for its nuclear program.

At issue are proposals, set out in a March 3 working paper obtained by Reuters, to expand a list of people, firms and groups whose assets would be frozen or trade with whom would be restricted, such as Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the state-owned Bank Sepah.

They also call for a ban on new commitments for grants, loans and credits to Iran, which both Russia and China had opposed.

China's "main difficulty is with the financial and the trade sanctions against Iran because we feel that we are not punishing the Iranian people. We should punish the Iranians for their activities in the nuclear field," China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said after Friday's talks.