Iran’s Oil Exports to China Rebound as Biden Admin Fails to Enforce Sanctions
“Washington is aware of China’s Iranian oil purchases, a senior U.S. official told Reuters.”
Iranian oil exports to China are on the rise as President Joe Biden’s administration fails to enforce U.S. sanctions placed on the regime. “Iranian oil shipments, now worth some $1.3 billion a month and the bulk of which go to China,” the Reuters noted earlier this month.
These huge shipments are taking place with the full knowledge of the Biden White House, a U.S. official told the news agency on condition of anonymity. “Washington is aware of China’s Iranian oil purchases, a senior U.S. official told Reuters in September, and has chosen diplomacy as a ‘more effective path forward to address our concerns’,” the news agency reported.
In November 2018, President Donald Trump slapped sweeping sanctions on Iran following the U.S. withdrawal from the Obama-era nuclear deal. The Trump administration vowed to sanction any government caught purchasing Iranian oil after the six-month waiver which expired in November 2019.
Defying U.S. sanctions, China has emerged as the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil under President Biden’s watch. “Chinese refiners are the biggest importers of Iranian oil. China’s imports of Iranian crude have averaged between 400,000 and 650,000 barrels per day this year on a monthly basis,” The South China Morning Post admitted earlier this year.
Reuters, on November 11, reported the growing Iran-China oil trade:
China’s imports of Iranian oil have held above half a million barrels per day on average for the last three months, traders and ship-tracking firms said, as buyers judge that getting crude at cheap prices outweighs any risks from busting U.S. sanctions.
China’s imports of Iranian oil have held above half a million barrels per day on average for the last three months, traders and ship-tracking firms said, as buyers judge that getting crude at cheap prices outweighs any risks from busting U.S. sanctions.
President Joe Biden’s administration has so far chosen not to enforce the sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies amid negotiations that could revive a 2015 nuclear deal that would allow Iran to sell its oil openly again.
After a dip in June and July from a record high in May as buyers ran low on import permits, Chinese independent refiners embraced Iran’s cheaper crude again as the government released fresh quotas, the traders and ship-tracking sources said.
“Deep discounts of Iranian oil and the new import quotas supported demand from Chinese independent refiners,” said Emma Li, tanker tracker Vortexa Analytics’ China market analyst, adding that strong Chinese refining margins also lent support.
Iranian oil shipments, now worth some $1.3 billion a month and the bulk of which go to China, provide key revenue for Tehran. Iran and world powers are set to resume talks on Nov. 29 to restore the nuclear deal and lift U.S. sanctions on the sales. (…)
Washington is aware of China’s Iranian oil purchases, a senior U.S. official told Reuters in September, and has chosen diplomacy as a “more effective path forward to address our concerns”.
The relationship between China and Iran goes deeper than oil purchases. China is grooming Iran as a bridgehead as it seeks influence in the Middle East. In March 2021, Beijing and Tehran inked a $400 billion trade and military deal.
Besides giving unfettered access to Iran’s oil and natural resources, the agreement opens up Iranian military and naval bases to China’s People Liberation Army. The pact includes “weapons development, training between Iranian and Chinese armed forces and intelligence sharing,” the Indian newspaper Financial Express reported.
The surge in oil shipments comes as Iran gets close to acquiring a nuclear bomb. The Mullah regime is “very close” to getting its hands on a nuclear arsenal, General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, said this week. Tehran has ramped up its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium and continues to block UN inspections to monitor its nuclear program.
The growing oil revenue will inevitably go into funding and arming Islamic and Arab terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. The Islamic Republic of Iran remains the “world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism,” according to the State Department’s 2020 annual Country Reports on Terrorism, the Shia-Islamic regime is the “world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism.” Tehran is the largest financier of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Gaza-based Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi Ansar Allah militia, and several other terrorist organizations waging war on the U.S. and its allies.
“Top US General says Iran ‘very close’ to bomb”
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Just sitting here reminiscing about how many headlines I’ve seen in the past year with the words “Biden” and “fail” in them.
If Biden was a Chinese agent, what would he be doing differently?
Hiding things better. As it is, he has the press to fawn over every failure he makes.
Who was in bed with the enemy??
With “Biden” (hoever is really running our country, along with Obama-trash Susan Rice) sabotaging our nation, make way for the century of China – and the impoverishment of the US.
We have to be nuts to remain in a union with the liberal/swamp/prog half of the nation.
Clinton in a sustained war, Obama in renewable wars, NOW (pun intended) Biden in progress.
I wonder if the “Big Guy” got a cut on this deal?
Yes,,, but he forgot…. which is why Hunter is the front man. Even with his scorched brain, he is better than F. Joe Biden in sealing the deal. Biden and his puppet masters want Iran to go nukes and want China to win the world.
Best money China ever spent was a few million to Hunter and Sundowner.
Slow Joe Biden and his Bimbo in Waiting are the best selected officials our enemies/rivals have ever had.