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China snubs US sanctions against Iran, receives oil shipment

June 28, 2019 at 9:34 am

Iranian media outlets revealed that China has received its first shipment of Iranian crude oil since the US ended waivers imposed on countries wishing to purchase petrol from Tehran.

The shipment of Iranian crude oil arrived to China on board an Iranian tanker, according to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

The Iranian agency declared that the shipment of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was received by the Jinxi Refining and Chemical Complex.

According to the Tancker Trackers website, the Suezmax Salina vessel left the Iranian island of Kharg on 24 May loaded with one million barrels of oil.

READ: US prods Iran for talks to ease Gulf tensions; Tehran dismisses sanctions threat

The agency interpreted the dispatch of this tanker to China as an attempt by Beijing to resume the purchase of oil and petroleum products in spite of US sanctions, noting that several other oil tankers are expected to arrive in China in the coming weeks.

US President Donald Trump’s administration had announced that it seeks to make Iranian oil exports “as close to zero as possible” this year.

In May, the US cancelled the last exemptions that allowed eight countries to continue buying Iranian oil as part a wave of “unprecedented sanctions” imposed by Trump on Tehran.

In June, Iran declared on going export of its oil through “non-official and non-traditional sales.”

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