![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787642775_774_lg-webp.webp\")
\n <\/p>\n
\nChina under scrutiny as leading buyer of Iranian oil<\/p>\n
China\u2019s role is expected to be a central issue because it has been the largest buyer of Iranian oil in recent years.<\/p>\n
Bessent has previously called on Beijing to cooperate with Washington. However, the reinstatement of the US blockade of Iranian ports in mid-July has already reduced the volume of Iranian crude reaching China.<\/p>\n
Analysts said Washington was proceeding cautiously over any sanctions against Chinese banks because such action could provoke retaliation from Beijing before expected talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month.<\/p>\n
Critical minerals are expected to be among the most sensitive issues in those discussions.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Chinese banks could be targeted, Bessent said: \u201cNo one is beyond the reach of US sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n
China\u2019s Foreign Ministry responded that sanctions and pressure would not resolve the conflict, adding that Beijing would take necessary measures to protect the country\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n
The US Treasury said it had been tracking networks, intermediaries and financial channels allegedly used by Iran to smuggle oil and evade existing sanctions.<\/p>\n
Washington plans to work with its partners to target revenue that it regards as illegally obtained by Tehran.<\/p>\n
The US identified five sectors considered important to Iran\u2019s economy: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and maritime shipping. It warned that each could face additional sanctions.<\/p>\n
The Treasury had previously imposed restrictions on nearly 60 individuals, entities and vessels linked to Iran.<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
\nIran warns ships against unauthorised Hormuz passage<\/p>\n
Trump has also threatened tariffs on imports from countries doing business with Iran, including Turkey, Iraq and India, although the US Supreme Court has overturned the legal basis previously used for such tariffs.<\/p>\n
Iran responded by warning commercial vessels not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without permission.<\/p>\n
Tehran named 45 ships that it alleged had violated its rules and threatened retaliation if cargo were transferred between vessels connected with those ships.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s army chief, Asim Munir, who has close relations with Trump, visited Iran on Monday for talks on the regional situation.<\/p>\n
A Pakistani source said one of the visit\u2019s principal objectives was to encourage Iran to return to negotiations.<\/p>\n
\nTanker attacked in Red Sea<\/p>\n
The United States and Iran have not launched air strikes against each other\u2019s forces for several weeks, but attacks on vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz have continued.<\/p>\n
The last formal direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran were held in June.<\/p>\n
In the latest maritime incident, a projectile reportedly struck an oil tanker west of the Saudi Arabian city of Yanbu in the Red Sea, causing a fire on its main deck.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthi movement claimed that the group had attacked a vessel in the area.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia\u2019s national shipping company also confirmed that one of its ships had been attacked.<\/p>\n
The incident underlined the continuing risks to Middle Eastern energy routes even as Washington intensifies its economic pressure on Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China under scrutiny as leading buyer of Iranian oil China\u2019s role is expected to be a central…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[158,147,72540,34,49,882,1097,101,69,51],"class_list":["post-263647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-breaking-news","tag-economy","tag-houti","tag-iran","tag-middle-east","tag-oil-price","tag-oil-tanker","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-tehran","tag-united-states"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117154964399059857","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}