BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China hopes the upcoming visit of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei to Tehran would be beneficial to peaceful solution of Iranian nuclear issue.

    "China hopes Elbaradei would play a positive role in solving the Iranian nuclear issue within the framework of IAEA," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao at a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

    "We hope ElBaradei's visit to Iran will be helpful to diplomatic efforts made by the international community to solve the Iranian nuclear issue through peaceful means," Liu said.

    ElBaradei's upcoming visit to Iran has been viewed as a last-ditch effort to ease the escalating tension over Iran's nuclear issue as he is expected to submit a report on Iran's compliance with the UN Security Council's demand at the end of this month. Enditem