US imposes sanctions on China refinery over Iran oil purchases
The US believes Iran’s oil networks help Tehran fund its nuclear and missile programmes and support militant proxies in the Middle East
The US has imposed sanctions on about 100 individuals, entities and vessels, including a Chinese independent refinery and terminal, that helped Iran’s oil and petrochemicals trade, the administration of President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, which it said is an independent teapot refinery in Shandong Province that has bought millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2023.
It also sanctioned China-based Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal, which operates a terminal at Lanshan Port. Treasury said it has accepted more than a dozen of Iran’s so-called shadow fleet vessels that evade the sanctions.
The tankers included Kongm, Big Mag, and Voy, which Treasury said transported several million barrels of Iranian oil to Rizhao.
The US believes Iran’s oil networks help Tehran fund its nuclear and missile programmes and support militant proxies throughout the Middle East. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
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The sanctions came even as Israel and Hamas signed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, which if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon.