LONDON (Times Online, UK) China has pulled out of crucial London talks to discuss further sanctions against Iran, raising the prospect of the U.S., Britain and France are left alone in pressuring Iran for its uranium enrichment program.

In what is seen as an indication that China will not risk its economic interests in Iran by supporting extra UN sanctions, it was confirmed that it had called off its attendance at a meeting of officials from the ""P5+1"" group, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, which was scheduled for next Monday.
Officials had been due to meet to discuss a third round of UN sanctions against Iran after it was confirmed that it had reached a landmark 3,000 operational centrifuges.
However, a Foreign Office official told Times Online on Friday that, unless a ""miracle"" happened over the weekend, the meeting was now unlikely to take place.
China has extensive business interests within Iran, and - along with Russia - has opposed a third round of UN sanctions against Iran.
The United States recently imposed its own unilateral economic sanctions. Britain has been pushing hard for a third round of UN sanctions, including restrictions on energy and financial investment in Iran.
At his weekly press conference on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao insisted on talks to settle Tehran's nuclear issue.
""Yang believes that Iran has the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy and has appreciated Tehran's reiteration that it has no intention to develop nuclear weapons,"" Liu Jianchao added, quoting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as telling Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in a recent meeting in Tehran on Tuesday.
""Countries must deal with their differences based on mutual respect and equality and following the principles of international laws,"" the spokesman stressed, without referring directly to any country.
""I believe the international community must decide the purpose of Iran's nuclear plans through peaceful negotiation,"" he concluded.