China urges all parties to immediately stop military operations in Middle East: FM spokesman

All parties should immediately stop military operations in the Middle East and return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Responding to a question on the Iranian situation at a regular press briefing in Beijing, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China is gravely concerned over the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

"China is gravely concerned over the continuous tensions in the Middle East. China believes that all countries' sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected and brook no infringement and condemns any indiscriminate attacks against civilians and non-military targets. All parties should immediately stop the military operations, return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible, avoid further escalation of the situation, and prevent the conflict from spreading and spilling over," he said.

China urges all parties to immediately stop military operations in Middle East: FM spokesman

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said Sunday the country has discovered more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet (21.24 billion cubic meters) of gas reserves in a field in the southern Fars province.

Nearly 5.7 trillion cubic feet of gas can be extracted from the field, considering a recovery factor of about 72 to 73 percent, Paknejad said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV.

"The newly-discovered resources add tens of billions of dollars to the intrinsic value of the country's wealth," he said, adding the field also contains a significant amount of gas condensate reserves.

Iran holds nearly 34 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves, according to data by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. After Russia, the country has the second-largest gas reserves in the world.

Iran discovers 7.5 tln cubic feet of gas in south: minister