BEIJING, CHINA - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that Beijing would continue to push for a peaceful solution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, ahead of crucial talks on the issue later this month.

"China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the peaceful resolution of the Iran nuclear issue," Wen told Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

The Iranian official met Wen a day after attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Beijing, a regional security grouping dominated by Russia and China that pledged solidarity in the face of the global financial crisis.

China is a close ally of Iran, and has repeatedly opposed calls for sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Tehran says the programme is for peaceful nuclear energy, but the West fears it masks a drive to make a nuclear bomb.

Negotiations over the issue have been strained but Iran has recently tried to make a show of greater cooperation since taking part in talks in Geneva with major world powers including China at the beginning of the month.

Iran and the six other nations - Britain, France, Russia, China, Germany and the United States - are to meet at the end of October for a second round of talks aimed at allaying Western concerns over Tehran's nuclear programme. --AFP