The UN Security Council passed a statement Thursday about the deaths during an attack by Israel. But China's UN ambassador Wang Guangya said the document was "watered down" and was just the "minimum" that could be expected of the Security Council.

The statement was agreed after two days of tough negotiations during which the United States blocked any talk of criticising Israel.

In the statement, the Security Council said it was "deeply shocked and distressed" at the Israeli attack, in which soldiers from China, Austria, Canada and Finland were killed, but did not mention the condemnation that China had sought.

"Any killing of innocent life has to be condemned," Wang said.

"I did not expect the consultations on such an important issue, on which there are many common points among council members, would take such a long time," Wang told reporters.

"So I think the frustration is there and this frustration will definitely affect working relations somewhat."

In a new veiled attack on the United States, Wang said: "To make the organisation work we have to consider our own priorities, but we also have to take into account the concerns of other countries."

He went on: "The lesson we have learned here is that we have to respect each other."

Wang signaled that China would take a hardline on negotiations on how to pass a Security Council resolution on Iran's controversial uranium enrichment.

He said that even before the controversy over the killing of the peacekeepers in Lebanon, that the Iran negotiations were "having some difficulty".

A meeting planned on Thursday on Iran between the council's permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- was postponed. Some diplomats said this was because of the dispute over the Lebanon statement.

"On the Iran issue, not all members share the same view. China we believe that the Iran nuclear issue mainly belongs to the IAEA," Wang said, strongly reaffirming Beijing's opposition to any talk of sanctions.

He said the Security Council should "reinforce" the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The IAEA is the main body, the IAEA is doing its work so we are not taking it over from the IAEA."

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