US Sanctions China-Based Refinery, Port in Fresh Crackdown on Iran’s Oil Trade

Oct 10, 2025 - 09:54

Updated: 7 months ago

US Sanctions China-Based Refinery, Port in Fresh Crackdown on Iran’s Oil Trade

The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions on dozens of individuals, companies, and ships tied to Iran’s energy trade, escalating efforts to choke off one of Tehran’s most critical sources of revenue.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Oct. 9 that it had designated more than 50 targets, mostly based in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and China. Officials accused them of facilitating the shipment of Iranian crude oil and sales of liquefied petroleum gas in defiance of U.S. sanctions.

“These actors have collectively enabled the export of billions of dollars’ worth of petroleum and petroleum products, providing critical revenue to the Iranian regime and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States,” the Treasury said.

Among those penalized are 32 “shadow fleet” oil tankers flagged under multiple national registries. The Treasury accused Iranian exporters of often relying on complex, multi-stage transfers—moving oil from one vessel to another in the Persian Gulf and in waters off Singapore and Malaysia—to disguise the true origin of their cargo.

The Treasury also sanctioned Jincheng Petrochemical, a refinery in China’s Shandong Province, for importing millions of barrels of Iranian crude since 2023. The company allegedly received more than a dozen shipments worth hundreds of millions of dollars via shadow fleet vessels, some of which were already under sanctions.

A terminal operator in Rizhao, also in Shandong Province, was also sanctioned for receiving more than a dozen shadow fleet deliveries, moving several million barrels of Iranian crude into China.

The Oct. 9 actions are the fourth set of sanctions so far this year. The new designations add to the hundreds of people, firms, and ships already penalized for their involvement in the Iran–China energy trade.

Under the measures, any property and interests in property held by the sanctioned parties in the United States—or controlled by a U.S. citizen, resident, or company—must be frozen and reported to the Treasury’s sanctions division.

According to the Treasury, these actions build on a series of orders and directives from President Donald Trump, including a national security memo issued in February officially reinstating the “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at blocking Iran’s access to nuclear weapons and curtailing its ability to fund global terrorist groups.

The presidential memo, among other things, instructs the Treasury and State Departments to “drive Iran’s export of oil to zero, including exports of Iranian crude to the People’s Republic of China.” It also directs the Treasury to block Iran from using Iraq’s financial system to evade sanctions and to ensure that Gulf states do not become transshipment hubs for Iranian oil.

Oil revenue from China remains a critical lifeline for Tehran, which is deepening ties with Beijing as part of an emerging anti-West bloc.

In a report published in August, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that Iran earned $43 billion from oil sales in 2024—$1 billion more than in 2023. The agency stated that Iran exported 1.44 million barrels per day to China last year, accounting for the overwhelming majority of its estimated 1.48 million barrels per day total exports.

Observers have said that China’s continued imports suggest that buyers there see the benefits of discounted Iranian oil as outweighing the risks of sanctions. According to a March report by the Congressional Research Service, most of these Chinese buyers are smaller, semi-independent “teapot” refineries, including Jincheng Petrochemical, which are described as “both hard to uncover and not exposed to the U.S. financial system,” thereby limiting the effectiveness of Washington’s sanctions.