Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Barack Obama that China would work with the United States and other parties to ensure the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Last week's deal, backed by the U.N. Security Council on Monday, lifts sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations in return for Iran's agreement to long-term curbs on a nuclear program the West has suspected aimed to build a nuclear bomb.

The agreement sends a positive message to the world that the international community can resolve major disputes through talks, the foreign ministry cited Xi as saying in a telephone call with Obama.

China and the United States worked closely together during the talks and this is good for their relationship, Xi added.

"China will continue to have constructive cooperation with all parties, including the United States, to ensure the implementation of the comprehensive agreement and the U.N. Security Council decision," Xi said.

China and Iran have close diplomatic, economic, trade and energy ties, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had been active in pushing both Washington and Tehran to reach agreement on the nuclear issue.

But China, one of the countries involved in the talks with Iran, had long railed against unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States and Europe, though it has supported U.N. measures, and had denounced threats of force.

While China and the United States bicker about everything from human rights and trade to China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, they also work closely together on issues of global concern, such as Iran's nuclear program.

Xi told Obama he looked forward to his trip to the United States in September, describing the development of relations at present as good.

By Reuters