The Biden administration will pressure China to stop importing Iranian oil, US special envoy for Iran Robert Murray told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
“China is the main destination for Iran’s illicit exports,” and the US will step up negotiations to dissuade Beijing from violating US sanctions. Marie told Bloomberg.
The Trump administration imposed third-party sanctions on Iran’s oil exports after it pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, but China increased purchases When President Joe Biden was elected and promised to return to the agreement known as the JCPOA.
China’s smaller refineries are buying at least 700,000 barrels a day at discounted prices through middlemen and illegal channels, according to the latest estimates. Beijing does not formally report Iranian oil shipments as they are usually labeled as cargo from other countries.
Some reports have attributed an increase in Iranian oil shipments in December, but it is not clear whether exports to China surged, or to other places such as Venezuela.
Critics have accused the Biden administration of not putting enough pressure on Beijing to halt imports from Iran, hoping that China would play an active role in nuclear talks with Tehran. Those negotiations stalled last September, and since then the United States and its European allies have taken a tougher stance on Iran, citing Iran’s human rights violations and the supply of kamikaze drones to Russia. I came.
