The U.S. has been unable to persuade China to cut Iranian oil imports, according to two officials familiar with the negotiations, dealing a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to isolate Iran after his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord.
Beijing has agreed not to ramp up purchases of Iranian crude, according to the officials. That would ease concerns that China would work to undermine U.S. efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic by purchasing excess oil.
China - the world’s top crude buyer and Iran’s No. 1 customer - has said previously that it opposed unilateral sanctions and lifted monthly oil imports from the country by 26% in July. It accounted for 35% the Iranian exports last month, according to Bloomberg.
Teams of U.S. officials have been visiting capitals around the world to try to choke off sales of Iranian oil by early November, when U.S. sanctions are due to snap back into effect.
Assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Energy Resources Francis Fannon was recently in China to discuss sanctions.
