According to the report of Channel News Asia, China is one of the key customers of Iranian oil, which mainly buys Iranian oil through independent refineries known as “Tepot”. The United States of America, which seeks to cut off Tehran’s foreign exchange earnings, has recently intensified sanctions against these refineries.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry’s ruling on the sanctions, which have been announced separately since last year, stipulates that Washington’s actions “shall not be recognized, implemented or respected.”
The ministry said in a statement: “These sanctions wrongly prohibit or restrict Chinese companies from carrying out normal economic, commercial and related activities with third countries… and violate international laws and basic norms governing international relations.” “The Chinese government has always opposed unilateral sanctions that lack UN authorization and legal basis in international law.”
The ruling includes three companies in Shandong province (“Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group”, “Shuguang Luqing Shandong Petrochemical” and “Shangxing Shandong Chemical”) and two other companies in other parts of China, namely “Hengli Petrochemical Refinery (Dalian)” and “Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group”.
Washington imposed sanctions on another Chinese company on Friday, claiming it imported “tens of millions of barrels” of Iranian crude oil and generated billions of dollars in revenue for Tehran. The name of this company, namely “Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal”, was not mentioned in the order of the Ministry of Commerce of China.
The latest sanctions come as Washington and Tehran are locked in a diplomatic stalemate, with no permanent solution on the horizon for the conflict that began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit this country at the end of this month for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
