China's Xi backs 'earnest implementing' of Iran nuclear deal

The Iran nuclear deal must be "earnestly" implemented, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Monday, as he met the country's president following the US withdrawal from the pact, state media reported.

Xi met one-on-one with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday following a two-day regional security summit in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao that also included Russia and former Soviet republics.

Xi described the deal as "an important outcome of multilateralism", according to the official Xinhua news service.

Xi said the deal is "conducive to safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East and the international non-proliferation regime, and should continue to be implemented earnestly," according to Xinhua.

Last month, President Donald Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposing sanctions that would hit international businesses working in the Islamic republic.

The other parties to the deal - Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - have vowed to stay in the accord but their companies risk huge penalties if they keep doing business in Iran.

But Rouhani said Iran expects the international community, including China, "to play a positive role in properly dealing with relevant issues", the agency reported.

During the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the assembled leaders, including Rouhani, that the US withdrawal could "destabilise the situation" but Moscow still supports the "unconditional implementation" of the deal.

Rouhani also had a bilateral meeting with Putin in Qingdao on Saturday and said more talks were needed between their two countries following Washington's "illegal" withdrawal, according to the Kremlin.

Separately on Sunday, Iran's powerful parliament speaker Ali Larijani said that the time for Europe to show it can save the nuclear deal was coming to an end. 

"This issue must be clear that Iran's officials will not wait for Europe's endless promises," Larijani, a key establishment figure, told parliament in a televised address.

"The time for negotiations is coming to an end and if Europe considers itself capable of maintaining the nuclear agreement, it must announce its decision explicitly and promptly, as otherwise Iran will take the next steps with regards to nuclear and other issues.”

Iran has warned it is ready to resume uranium enrichment to 20 percent "within days" if the deal falls apart.  

That is still within civilian-use limits, and Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is not for military purposes, but is far above the 3.67 percent enrichment permitted under the 2015 agreement.