Lawmakers Call for Expanded Sanctions on China for Iranian Oil Trade
Republicans last week criticized the Biden administration’s “lack of sanctions enforcement” against Iran, saying the country continues to sell oil to China and use those profits to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. The lawmakers called on the Treasury and State departments to develop a strategy to “prevent Iran’s petrochemical industry from supporting the regime’s nefarious activities,” saying the strategy should include more sanctions against Chinese people and companies buying Iranian energy.
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The Biden administration’s “limited actions to expand the scope of designations, and other steps related to the Iranian regime’s illicit oil and petrochemical sales, has fueled the unprecedented level of malign conduct and repression we see today,” the lawmakers said in a July 14 letter, signed by Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and seven other Republicans.
The administration should “immediately enforce existing sanctions” and “expand sanctions designations to include” entities that store Iranian oil and conduct ship-to-ship oil transfers, including operators of ports and refineries in China. “Doing so will deprive the Iranian regime of critical revenues that they would use [to] harm U.S. interests and repress the Iranian people,” the letter said.
The Treasury and State departments didn’t comment.