UNITED NATIONS, May 18 (Reuters) - A new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran, if approved, would not be intended to harm normal trade with Tehran, China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said on Tuesday.
"The purpose of sanctions is to bring the Iranian side to the negotiating table," Li told reporters after the United States circulated a draft sanctions resolution to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council. "The sanctions are not for punishing innocent people and should not harm normal trade."
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Will Dunham)