US Sanctions Chinese Refinery and Shipping for Iranian Oil

The United States imposed economic sanctions on Friday against a major Chinese oil refinery and approximately 40 shipping companies and tankers linked to the transport of Iranian oil, escalating efforts to disrupt Iran's primary revenue source amid an ongoing war in the Middle East.

The sanctions target Hengli Petrochemical's facility in the port city of Dalian, which has a daily processing capacity of about 400,000 barrels of crude oil and ranks among China's largest independent refineries. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the refinery has received shipments of Iranian crude since 2023, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that has supported the Iranian military. The measures also extend to a network of vessels and intermediaries involved in these transactions, severing the sanctioned entities' access to the U.S. financial system and imposing penalties on any third parties that conduct business with them. This action fulfills a prior threat by President Donald Trump's administration to apply secondary sanctions on nations and companies engaging with Iran.

The penalties come as the U.S. maintains a physical blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital...