(Reuters) – President Donald Trump said Tuesday that China could continue to buy oil from Iran after the US bombed OPEC members’ nuclear facilities, hoping that China would buy “a lot” of it from the US.
“China can now continue to buy oil from Iran. Hopefully they’ll buy a lot from the US as well,” he said in a post about Truth Society.
Trump’s post comes after he announced that Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire after bombing three nuclear facilities over the weekend. He scolded both countries for an early violation of a ceasefire.
Earlier in the second period, which began in January, Trump said he was reimposed maximum pressure on Iran on Middle Eastern nuclear programmes and funding from extremist groups.
He imposed a wave of Iran-related sanctions involving China’s so-called independent “teapot” refineries and port terminal operators to purchase Iranian oil.
The actual lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil will be taken action by the Ministry of Finance, the state department and the legislature. However, the Trump administration could choose not to enforce existing sanctions, which could lead to oil flows increasing the flow to global markets.
China, the world’s largest buyer of Iranian oil, has long opposed what Washington calls “illegal, unilateral sanction abuse.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s post.
Large-scale purchases of Iranian oil by China and other consumers could disrupt Saudi Arabia’s allies, the world’s largest oil exporter.
The State Department introduced the White House request for comment but did not respond immediately.
Reported by Timothy Gardner, Daphne Psaledakis, David Brunnstrom and Bhargav Acharya. Edited by Doina Chiacu and Marguerita Choy
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