US issues new sanctions over Iran’s oil shipments to China
The Trump administration has announced sanctions against three people and nine companies, including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran’s shipment of oil to China. The ninth company is based in Oman.
The US Treasury move follows sanctions announced on Friday on individuals and companies aiding Iranian purchases of weapons and components used to make drones and ballistic missiles.
It comes days before US president Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Xi Jinping, where he is expected to press the Chinese leader to help resolve the standoff with Iran and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Treasury said the new designations by the Office of Foreign Assets Control were aimed at individuals and entities that helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sell and ship its allotment of Iranian oil to China using a series of front companies.T
reasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would keep using sanctions to deprive the Iranian government and military of funding for weapons, its nuclear program or support for proxies in the region.
“Treasury will continue to cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts and to destabilize the global economy,” Bessent said.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 May 2026 04:15
Iran war briefing:
- US president Donald Trump has claimed the Iran ceasefire is on “life support” after rejecting Tehran’s latest proposal, which officials said included some nuclear concessions
- Iran sent its response to the latest US proposal to end the Iran war via Pakistani mediators over the weekend, but Trump rejected it in a social media post as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”
- The US government has imposed sanctions against three people and nine companies, including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran’s shipment of oil to China
- Oil prices rose in early Asian trade this morning as negotiations to end the war between the US and Iran appeared fragile
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 May 2026 04:05


