The Hengli refinery, China’s second-largest, has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s military, the US Treasury says.
The United States has sanctioned a Chinese oil refinery for buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil.
Ahead of potential new talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran, the US Treasury Department on Friday said that it was targeting Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, China’s second-largest “teapot” or independent refinery.
Hengli is “one of Tehran’s most valued customers” and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Iranian military through crude oil purchases, the Treasury added.
It also imposed new sanctions on about 40 shipping firms and vessels alleged to be operating as part of Iran’s shadow fleet.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC pushed back against the move.
“We call on the US to stop politicising trade and sci-tech issues and using them as a weapon and a tool and stop abusing various kinds of sanction to hit Chinese companies,” a spokesperson said.
China gets more than half of its oil from the Middle East, and last year purchased more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil, according to analytics firm Kpler.
