Washington tightens sanctions on Iran. China is outraged

US President Barack Onama has announced additional economic sanctions against the oil and gas sector of Iran and some financial companies.

The US president’s decision aims to prevent Iran from dodging the earlier sanctions. “If the Iranian government continues its defiance, there should be no doubt that the United States and our partners will continue to impose increasing consequences,” Obama said. The fresh US sanctions relate to the “purchase or acquisition” of Iranian petrochemical products, while the purchase of crude oil had been banned earlier. The sanctions are also directed against the companies that do any business with the National Iranian Oil Company, the company Naftiran Itertrade, Iran’s central bank, or assist Iran in buying precious metals or US dollars. The White House’s statement directly names two banks: China’s Bank of Kunlun and Iran’s Elaf Islamic Bank. As these institutions reportedly helped Iran evade sanctions, they will, therefore, be cut off from the US financial system. China, the largest importer of Iranian oil, has already said that sanctions against Teheran should be lifter and noted that this measure may damage the relations between Beijing and Washington.