Iran’s Acting Mines and Industry Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian has described his meeting with President Bashar al-Assad as “good, constructive and cordial”.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi arrived in Beijing on Thursday for two days of talks that he said would focus on the debate over his nation’s nuclear program.

Negotiations are the best way to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program and China supports efforts to continue the contact between Iran and the European Union (EU), the Chinese top envoy in Vienna said on Wednesday.