By Timothy Gardner and Ismail Shakil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on a third Chinese independent – or “teapot” – oil refinery, and port terminal operators in China for purchases of Iranian oil.
The U.S. Treasury designated the Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group refinery and three companies for operating a terminal at Dongying Port in Shandong Province. It said they had purchased or facilitated the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil.
It was the latest independent Chinese refinery targeted by the Trump administration after it re-imposed a policy of “maximum pressure” that aims to cut off Iran’s export revenue to pressure Tehran into a deal to curb its nuclear program and stop the funding of militant groups across the Middle East.
“So long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its partners in sanctions evasion accountable,” the U.S. Treasury said in a statement.
Previous sanctions imposed on two small Chinese refiners for buying Iranian oil have created difficulties in receiving oil, leading them to halt purchases of crude and sell product under other names, sources familiar with the matter said.
Those sanctions have also begun to deter other, larger independent Chinese refiners from buying Iranian crude, three of the sources said.
Iran’s U.N. mission in New York and China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The companies Treasury designated for operating the port terminal were Baogang (Dongying Donggang) Logistics and Warehousing Co, Ltd, Shandong Jingang Port Co, Ltd, and Shandong Baogang International Port Co, Ltd.
Treasury said the companies operate a terminal in Dongying Port that has received more than one million barrels of Iranian oil from shadow fleet tankers.
The sanctions block U.S. assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Ishmail Shakil; editing by Mark Heinrich and Bill Berkrot)
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