A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag
It is the second time in a month that the US has put sanctions on a ‘teapot’ refinery — a term for independent Chinese refineries that are the main buyers of Iranian crude © Raheb Homavandi/Reuters
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The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on a Chinese refinery for buying Iranian crude oil, as Washington increasingly pushes Beijing to rein in oil purchases from the country to increase the pressure on Tehran.
The Treasury department targeted Shandong Shengxing Chemical for allegedly buying more than $1bn in Iranian crude oil from sources that included a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in violation of US sanctions.
The measure marks the second time in a month that President Donald Trump has put sanctions on a “teapot” refinery — a term for independent Chinese refineries that are the main buyers of Iranian crude.
“Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk,” said Treasury secretary Scott Bessent.
“The United States is committed to disrupting all actors providing support to Iran’s oil supply chain, which the regime uses to support its terrorist proxies and partners,” he added.
The Treasury department also imposed sanctions on several companies and vessels for helping Iran transport oil to China on ships that are part of a “shadow fleet” of vessels that seek to avoid detection.
The package marked the sixth round of sanctions that Trump has placed on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure campaign”.
They come as Washington and Beijing are in the middle of a trade war that Trump launched in January and escalated in recent weeks. The US has imposed a 145 per cent tariff on imports from China, which has retaliated with a 125 per cent tariff on American goods.
The Trump administration has also stepped up pressure on China over its purchases of Iranian crude. The Biden administration was criticised by Republicans for failing to exert more pressure on Beijing to stop importing oil from Iran in violation of US sanctions.
Dennis Wilder, who was a White House Asia adviser to president George W Bush, said former president Joe Biden “turned a blind eye to China’s purchase of up to 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports”.
“This was, in large part, out of concern that a fully enforced embargo on Iran would lead to a sharp rise in oil prices that would affect US consumers,” Wilder said. “Chinese oil purchases have helped build a close relationship between Tehran and Beijing in which China benefits by gaining greater commercial access in the region.”
The new sanctions come as the Trump administration is holding talks with Tehran on curtailing the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme, prompting hopes of a breakthrough in one of the Middle East’s most intractable problems.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, held indirect talks with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Saturday. The pair are due to hold a second round of talks this coming Saturday.
“We firmly oppose the US abuse of unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction,’ which undermines international trade order and rules, disrupts normal economic and trade exchanges, and infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals,” said Liu Pengyu, the Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington. 
 

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(Edited)
Xi’s Century of Humiliation is just beginning.

Uninvestable
You are hilarious 🤣
Enjoy your woke echo chamber.
Isn't the Treasury department wasting their time by targeted Shandong Shengxing Chemical with sanctions when that company has zero business in US$s that use the SWIFT transfer network?

In September 2022, China and Iran renewed their bilateral currency swap agreement, increasing the size to around 100 billion yuan (approximately $14-15 billion, depending on exchange rates at that time).

So, the sanctions on Shandong Shengxing Chemical will be completely ineffective!

Exactly no petrodollar here. It’s a farce
(Edited)
The justice department has already seized $108M in attempted laundering.

Decouple
So now another refinery becomes the go-to hub for Chinese purchases of Iranian oil since they’re already sanctioned anyway
Be patient. All will come to pass.

It will be the earlier of Laying of Trump’s headstone or January 2029, when his 4 years is up, whichever is the first

“Time flies”

“You can’t stop time”

Just look at how much he has aged.

It is only a matter of time.
Yet another act that actively dilutes USD reserve currency status. Coupled with tariffs which are inflationary, US economy will continue to weaken. Here’s to 10 percent Treasury yields!! Gold at $4k!!
Psst…India?
Indians stopped buying from Iran long ago
What about Europe buying cheap refined products from India?
One of the key reasons the dollar has remained a reserve currency is because the price of commodities such as oil and its futures is still priced in dollars.

If the second buyer of oil in the world, China, and the third largest exporter of oil, Russia, start using other currencies for this commodity, it can in the long run move the world to a multicurrency trading system.
Well, the US can only blame itself for not only weaponising the dollar but also using that weapon far too frequently. It is only natural for other powers not to want to touch USD’s to the extent possible.
Agree.
CRINK..... China, Russia, Iran, North Korea. What do they have in common? Hmm. Lack of personal freedom. Trade. Alliance. Repression.
You need to see a Shrink …
Did I write something which is incorrect? Thanks.
You should consider a career in comedy. 😂😂
Perfect! Love it 👏👏
More sanctions please. Helps diversify the global economy away from the US.
The sanctions has obviously no deterrence impact on Chinese buyers so i suspect the main purpose is to scare other buyers (indian, singaporean ?)..
Indians haven’t bought from Iran for a long time. It is Modi’s way of ingratiating himself with the US and he also fancies himself as part of an anti-Muslim axis with Israel.
Can FT elaborate as to what are the sanctions in case the refinery does not stop buying Iranian oil?
(Edited)
MAGA US really has played this very badly. First, punitive tariffs on China , and then threaten sanctions?!🤡 Iran,Russia,NK all masters of evading sanctions so will show China the way and remove the US petro- dollar exorbitant privilege. There will be a new China-led global SWIFT alternative if there is not one already. About the only thing US can do is illegally bomb Iran oil depots under some other pretence ( further alienate India and SKorea allies )or impose full Iran Oil embargo on China. That is an act of war akin to the embargo on Japan pre pearl harbor, and I hope we are not there yet. But this is MAGA.
I am not a cheerleader for Iran or China, but I think it hypocritical of the US administration given its history of arming and funding civil war and conflicts in foreign lands, to dictate to these countries what they can and cannot do.

I strongly believe no country should have nuclear weapons. It is hypocritical of the US - which has them and has used them - to tell Iran it may not have nuclear weapons or the capability to manufacture them.
(Edited)
There was also a fairly solid international agreement in place to stop Iran getting nukes, until Trump broke it
Iran should definitely not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

I’m not actually concerned about Israel. They already have nukes to protect themselves (MAD).

The real issue is what a nuclear Iran would mean for Saudi and the UAE. As soon as Iran obtains nuclear weapons they can bully Saudi and the UAE as much as they want with no real deterrent. We end up with a North Korea 2.0 situation.

The danger also grows when you then consider the network of proxies Iran deploys (Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah, PIJ, PFLP. God forbid a nuke falls into one of their hands. If Iran didn’t have that network of proxies I probably wouldn’t worry as much.

And just so you know, none of the 5 countries that legally have nukes (the UNSC 5) want Iran to get them. Not even China or Russia. It’s not just the US.

The good news is the Israelis won’t wait around to find out what happens if Iran ever comes close (Stuxnet 2.0 is ready and waiting I am sure), and the GCC nations will breathe a collective sigh of relief privately while finger-wagging publicly (as has been their strategy with Israel for the last 40 years).
Why would the Chinese care? Can someone explain?
Are we going to see Chinese tankers accompanied by Chinese frigates to protect them from US attacks?
We might see a US embargo on Iranian oil destined for China. That's a pre pearl harbor moment.
What about the Iranian oil going to India?
It is not and has not been for a couple of years
You have a point but the situation is rather different now than in 1941: then, Japan purchased a great deal of oil from the USA, Mexico, and the Dutch East Indies (friendly to the US and willing to follow its sanction).

This time is different: both Iran and China can have a beneficial trade and can use alternatives to the dollar. Also, they have insulated themselves from more sanctions.

My worry is that the only tool the US can use to impose its will on Iran is military.
So is the Orange Pandemofascist going to put an embargo on India and do further damage to the American economy and way of life?
Thing is oil/petrol/petrodollar is as I note trades in USD. This is super important to the US as one might say they have a bit of debt. At this rate China and its partners could easily trade in Renminbi or Euros or or or anything that isn’t dollars. What we have seen with China is once they move away from something even if it was temporary, they don’t go back. I know Swift and such like but if they say oh stuff it, this is gazillions the US could not gain or indeed lose. It’s all a bit murky
Mafia regime thinks it runs the world.
Sadly right now it still kind of does.
Now we know who blew up nordstream. Oh wait Bissent already admitted US did
It’s hard to understand American thinking here.

Trump’s just made the USA, the dollar and American banks and services much less attractive and much harder to access.

Trump has just provoked a massive tariff war with China and seems set to exclude Chinese firms from doing anything in the USA or exporting to the USA.

Why would the Chinese care about being sanctioned away from the much smaller American sphere of influence that Trump has created?
I do assume that there is actually still some bite in these American sanctions against China... or are we actually at the stage where Xi is going to just completely ghost Trump's derangements?
if the US gives up on international trade, there aren’t a lot of ways to keep up the sanctions/siege regime that was developed stemming from Cuba. where’s the enforcement power?
with tariffs that high - does China actually give a flying F? 😂
If the US going to change world order, why does others care about what they want to do?
One watches in horror and remarks at the stupidity. The US seems to want to provoke a third world war in the east, and is trying to buy off the Russians to secure their western flank. Madness
Trying to buy off the US sanctioned Russians that have a 'no limits' partnership with China. China & Russia are allies and it's plain to see for everyone,,except MAGA.
(Edited)
But not the Russian oil purchases.
I guess because Russia has been attacked by Ukraine, who started the war (according to Trump).
Nor Israel -a state the UN has officially judged as an occupier, practising apartheid and (wait for it) being investigated for plausible case of genocide.

But no, rather than sanctions, it gets red carpet treatment despite being a net negative drag on America and Americans.
Does Isreal produce oil?
It steals offshore oil/gas from Palestine + buys coal from S Africa etc. Oddly, China manages Israel's ports at Haifa and Ashod + does $20 b trade w Israel. And the drone that nixxed Sinwar was Chinese. This is a fruitcake; Trump is a club foot.
It breaks all international rules and never gets sanctioned.

It is in breach of more UN resolutions but never gets sanctioned.

It has been found to officially be an occupying and apartheid state by the UN, and is being investigated for crimes against humanity including plausible case of genocide, but is yet to be sanctioned.

Sanction Israel and many other nefarious actors will no longer have the excuse of western hypocrisy.
Could have all been avoided if the Arabs chose to just accept the partition plan which would have given them much more land. Instead of accepting it like Israel did, or coming to a negotiated solution, they ganged up and attacked Israel in 1948.

Israel won and gained more territory, while Egypt and Jordan occupied and annexed Gaza and the West Bank (it’s funny how those occupations and annexations are okay to some).

The Arabs could have left it at that but no, again they ganged up and attacked Israel in 1967 which allowed Israel to gain Gaza and the West Bank.

I wonder who’s really at fault here. If we are being fair it’s 50/50. But it’s crazy how only the Israeli side gets blamed for this mess. The pattern here seems to be the Arabs gang up and attack Israel. Israel then responds with ferocity and ends up winning even more territory. And the cycle continues.

I think it’s deeper than just Israel vs Arab neighbours. It is part of the inherent culture of the Middle East. And if Israel wasn’t there then nothing would change, these savages would still maim each other. The Israelis are a convenient excuse for the rest of them to hide behind.

The lesson should have been clear after 1948. Don’t attack Israel unprovoked and you won’t lose any territory. The morons have consistently done the opposite.
(Edited)
Exactly!

Finally someone is talking sense.

One rule for Iran another rule for Russia.
Russia is like the new Israel.
Stop being anti-Russia The Russians are not committing a genocide like the evil woke penguins.
Trump following the orders of the Israel lobby like clockwork. America second, Israel first!
Indeed, the tail that wags the dog