US sanctions Chinese refiner, vessels and firms for alleged Iran oil ties

The US Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on an independent Chinese refiner as well as several vessels and firms it said were involved in the sale of Iranian oil to China, even as US-Iran talks were due to resume on Saturday.

"Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a China-based independent 'teapot' refinery Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., Ltd. for its role in purchasing more than a billion dollars’ worth of Iranian crude oil, including from a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)," it said in a statement.

The announcement imposed sanctions on five vessels it said were part of Iran's oil "shadow fleet" shipping oil to China.

“Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran’s oil trade places itself at serious risk,” secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent said in the statement.

“The United States is committed to disrupting all actors providing support to Iran’s oil supply chain, which the regime uses to support its terrorist proxies and partners.”