The US Treasury on Thursday issued new Iran-related sanctions, targeting entities including for the first time a Chinese “teapot”, or independent refinery, and vessels that supplied crude oil to such processing plants.
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It was Washington’s fourth round of sanctions on Iran’s oil sales since US President Donald Trump said in February he was re-imposing a “maximum pressure” campaign including efforts to drive down the country’s exports to zero. Trump aims to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.
The refinery Treasury targeted for sanctions is China-based Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co, Ltd.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the refinery bought oil from vessels linked to Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which the US designated this month as a foreign terrorist organisation, and the US-designated Iranian Ministry of Defence of Armed Forces Logistics.
China is the largest importer of Iranian oil.
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“Teapot” refiners are private Chinese refineries that are the primary buyers of Iranian oil.