Why is China refusing to enforce US sanctions on Iranian crude?
Ahead of a visit to Beijing by Iran’s top diplomat, China ordered its oil refineries that purchase crude from Tehran not to comply with or enforce US sanctions on Iranian oil.
China’s commerce ministry on Saturday for the first time invoked a 2021 law that protects Chinese interests against foreign laws or measures. State media said the move “uses the power of the rule of law to precisely counter the US’s ‘long-arm jurisdiction’, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
The Treasury Department has been ramping up pressure against the so-called teapot independent refiners in China that have continued to source Iranian crude and petroleum products. It has imposed sanctions on five such refineries with the latest addition in late April targeting one of Iran’s largest customers – Hengli Petrochemical, which has bought billions of dollar’s worth of crude.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that China’s purchases of Iranian crude amounted to supporting terrorism, urging Beijing to step up diplomacy to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz – the critical oil and gas shipping route that has been effectively shut since the war began.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, the first meeting between the two allies’ top diplomats since the Iran war began.
Araghchi’s visit came just a week ahead of the much-anticipated summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing
By Faig Mahmudov
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