President Donald Trump said China could purchase oil from Iran, in an apparent reversal of policy after his administration spent months imposing sanctions on Chinese refineries for buying Iranian crude. “Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the US, also. It was my Great Honor to make this happen!” Trump added.
The comments came the morning after he had claimed credit for arranging a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and hours after he lashed out at both countries, particularly Israel, for violating the arrangement.
From March, the US had sanctioned several Chinese “teapot” refineries — private groups that are the country’s main buyers of Iranian crude oil — as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran. It has also targeted other companies involved in shipping Iranian crude to China, including Hong Kong-based entities that the US says are front companies for Sepehr Energy, a commercial affiliate of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff. It also targeted an ageing “shadow fleet” of tankers that Sepehr uses to facilitate Iranian oil exports to China.
China buys most of Iran’s roughly 1.5mn barrels of oil exports, providing Tehran with a key source of income, while leaving Beijing exposed to any tightening of US sanctions.
Republicans repeatedly criticised President Joe Biden for not doing enough to crack down on Iranian oil exports to China. Trump’s comment appeared to signal a reversal after just five months in office.
When the Trump administration unveiled its first sanctions on Chinese entities in March, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the US was “committed to cutting off the revenue streams that enable Tehran’s continued financing of terrorism and development of its nuclear programme”.
Analysts greeted the announcement with caution and said markets would take time to absorb it, given the ongoing volatility in the region.
Posted by John3262005
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Donald Trump is the snip snap, snip snap president.