US imposes Iran-linked sanctions on oil tankers, China teapot refinery

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Mar 2025 23:12

The US says it sanctioned a Chinese refinery and 19 entities for purchasing Iranian oil, citing links to Yemen's Ansar Allah movement and Iran’s Defense Ministry.

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The US Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, on May 4, 2021. (AP)

The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday against a China-based oil refinery that allegedly purchased approximately $500 million worth of Iranian oil from tankers linked to the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, marking Washington's fourth round of sanctions on Iran's oil sales.

In a statement, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on a "teapot refinery" in China’s Shandong province, which had reportedly bought Iranian crude valued at around half a billion dollars.

Teapot refineries are smaller, privately owned oil-processing facilities in China, in contrast to the country’s large state-owned enterprises.

Since resuming office, US President Donald Trump has reinstated the "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, imposing sanctions on multiple individuals and entities, including Iran’s oil minister.

According to the Treasury, the sanctioned refinery sourced its oil through Iran’s so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers, including vessels linked to Ansar Allah, which the US designated this month as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization", and the US-designated Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL). The department also sanctioned an additional 19 ships and companies involved in supplying the refineries.

"Teapot refinery purchases of Iranian oil provide the primary economic lifeline for the Iranian regime, the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated.

Separately, the US State Department announced its own sanctions targeting a Chinese oil terminal on Thursday.

"These sanctions are being imposed pursuant to President Trump's maximum pressure campaign to drive Iran's oil exports, including to China, to zero," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce indicated in a statement.

Bruce emphasized that China remains the largest importer of Iranian oil, claiming that Tehran uses these revenues to "finance attacks" against US allies.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said that their country "has always been firmly opposed to illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the US."