On Thursday, President Donald Trump's administration announced that the U.S. had imposed sanctions against about 100 individuals and entities, including a Chinese refinery and terminal independent of China, which helped Iran in its oil and petrochemicals trading.

The Treasury Department has sanctioned Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co., a teapot refinery that is independent in Shandong Province and which it says has bought millions of barrels Iranian oil since 2023.

The sanctions also included Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal Co., a Chinese company that operates a terminal in Lanshan Port. Treasury has said that it has accepted over a dozen Iranian vessels from the so-called "shadow fleet" which evade sanctions.

Kongm, Big Mag and Voy were among the tankers. Treasury reported that the tankers carried several million barrels Iranian oil from Rizhao.

The U.S. is convinced that Iran's oil network helps Tehran finance its nuclear and missile program and supports militant proxies in the Middle East. Iran claims its nuclear program has peaceful purposes.

Israel and Hamas were at war when the sanctions were imposed

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A Gaza ceasefire deal and hostage agreement, if fully implemented would bring both sides closer together than any other effort to stop a war which had developed into a conflict of regional importance, involving countries like Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon.

Treasury stated that this was the fourth round in which the administration targeted China based refineries who continue to buy Iranian oil.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, "The Treasury Department degrades Iran's cashflow by dismantling the key elements of Iran’s energy export machinery."

State Department stated that the U.S. designated Jiangyin Foreversun Chemical Logistics as the first China-based facility to receive petrochemicals of Iranian origin.

Requests for comments were not immediately responded to by the Chinese embassy in Washington or Iran's UN mission in New York. (Reporting and editing by Margueritachoy, Bhargavacharya, Timothy Gardner)

(source: Reuters)