U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
TheTrump administration imposedsanctionsonIranianoiltrading networks Thursday, including on aChina-based crudeoilstorageterminallinked via a pipeline to an independent refinery,just days before direct talks between the U.S. andIran.
Thesanctionscame after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will holddirect talkswithIran Saturday in Oman.PresidentDonald Trumpsaid on Monday thatIranwould be in “great danger” if the talks were unsuccessful.
The U.S. imposedsanctionson Guangsha Zhoushan Energy Group Co, LTD that it said operates a crudeoiland petroleum productsterminalon Huangzeshan Island in Zhoushan,China. Theterminalknowingly engaged withoilfromIran, andis directly connected through the Huangzeshan–Yushan Under SeaOilPipelineto an independentrefinery known as a “teapot” plant, the U.S. State Department said.
“The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements ofIran’soilexports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Theterminalhas acquiredIranian crudeoilat least nine times between 2021 and 2025, including from U.S. sanctioned vessels, and has imported at least 13 million barrels ofIranian crudeoil, it said.
China, the largest importer ofIranianoil, does not recognize U.S.sanctions.ChinaandIranhave built a trading system thatuses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to U.S. regulators.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in response to a sanction on a teapot refinery last month, a spokesperson said: “Chinahas always been firmly opposed to illegal and unjustifiable unilateralsanctionsand so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the U.S.”
It was Washington’s latest round ofsanctionsonIransince Trump said inFebruary he was re-imposing a”maximum pressure”campaign including efforts to drive down the country’soilexports to zero in order to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon.
Iransays its nuclear program is for civil purposes.
‘DEFIES LOGIC’
Typically Washington puts a pause on freshsanctionsahead of delicate negotiations with adversaries such asIran, a lawyer andsanctionsexpert said. “It defies logic,” said Jeremy Paner, a partner at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed and a former Treasury Departmentsanctionsinvestigator.
The Treasury Department also designated United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar, who owns shipping companies with a fleet of nearly 30 vessels.
“Brar’s vessels engage in high-risk ship-to-ship (STS) transfers ofIranian petroleum in waters off Iraq,Iran, the UAE, and the Gulf of Oman,” the department said in a statement.
Thesanctionsalso target two UAE- and two India-based entities that own and operate Brar’s vessels that have transportedIranianoilon behalf of the NationalIranianOilCompany and theIranian military, Treasury said in a statement.
“TheIranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulousshippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable itsoilsales and finance its destabilizing activities,” Bessentsaid.
Thesanctionsblock U.S. assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.
Paner said the Chinesetargetswould likely be impacted by thesanctions, but Thursday’ssanctionsoverall will not chokeIran’soiltrade.
“If you’re going to show them that you are really seriousyou would target (Chinese) banks or P&I clubs,” or protection and indemnity insurance groups that provide services tooiltankers, Paner said.
About The Author
