Top US General: Iran’s Oil Sales to China Fund Its Malign Activities

“I’m very concerned about this new relationship between Russia, China and Iran. What we see is, Iran is relying on China and Russia is relying on Iran,” the head of the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) told lawmakers.

“Iran is now increasingly working with Russia, Russia is working with China…there is this consortium that has formed in a way that we haven’t seen…,” Democratic leader of the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith said in seeming agreement with the General.

General Michael Kurilla specifically highlighted Tehran's sale of 90% of its oil, which is subject to US sanctions, to China.

“So in effect China is funding Iran’s subversive and malign behavior in the region,” General Kurilla said.

When queried about Tehran's ability to sell oil to China, the General explained that the country circumvents sanctions by employing an extensive network of ships known as a "ghost fleet" or "dark fleet" for ship-to-ship transfers.

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Republican Rep. Mike Waltz also pointed to Iran's alliance with China, by using a map to illustrate Iran's undisturbed oil sales to China – while pointing out Iran-backed Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.

“All roads go back to Iran but really it’s Chinese money that is fuelling Iran, that is fuelling terrorism…and yet, all of our policy is focused on the symptoms of the disease,” Waltz said.

In this context, Waltz queried Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, about her support for a House-passed bill imposing secondary sanctions on China for accepting Iranian oil shipments at ports.

However, Wallander deferred the matter to the Treasury Department.

Both Iran and China have not publicly disclosed exact figures of their recent oil transactions. Despite reports suggesting Iran sells oil at significant discounts, the precise revenue generated from its oil sales in recent years remains unclear.

General Kurilla also cautioned about the strengthening alliance between Tehran and Moscow, citing an increase in the provision of suicide drones to Russia.

“Iran went from 100s to now 1000s of one-way attack unmanned aerial systems – suicide drones – that they’re providing to Russia,” he said referring to Moscow’s continued war in Ukraine.

Notably, the General did not get into specifics about what Moscow is providing Tehran.

“What I can talk about in a classified setting, is what Russia can provide in return back to Iran which is concerning,” he said.

Deterring Tehran’s ‘Malign’ Behavior

Warning that the Middle East is at its “most volatile” in the past 50 years, General Kurilla pointed to Iran as the region’s “single biggest malign actor”.

Over the past 6 months, he said, every proxy in the Iranian threat network operationalized. In Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, The West Bank and Yemen.

“The ramifications of this partnership have global implications,” the top US general warned.

While he admitted that there had been a period of calm in Iraq and Syria, after the US carried out dozens of air strikes on Iranian proxies – he admitted that “all deterrence is temporal”

“I do believe there has to be cost imposition on Iran for them to be able to cease their malign behavior,” he told lawmakers.

The top General made similar comments in in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.

Amid ample criticism from fellow lawmakers regarding the Biden administration's handling of Iran, Democratic Rep. Smith argued that reestablishing a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, alongside a bolstered partnership involving the US, would contribute to stabilizing the region.

In response, Wallander emphasized that the initial step toward this goal is to find a long-term solution to the plight facing the Palestinian people and to revive discussions for a two-state solution.