China faces slew of US sanctions if it goes ahead with $400m Iran partnership
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that China will face ‘all the sanctions we have on the Islamic Republic of Iran’ if it goes ahead with a reported $400 million economic and security deal with Tehran.
The draft partnership proposal, whose details were leaked online to the media late last month, calls for China to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Iran’s energy, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other sectors. In return, China will receive heavily discounted Iranian oil for the next 25 years.
Asked about the draft deal in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Pompeo warned that the Trump administration will target Beijing with all the sanctions in its Iran arsenal if the proposed deal with Tehran is finalised.
‘We will be sure to enforce all the provisions we have, all the sanctions we have on the Islamic Republic of Iran, applied to the Chinese Communist Party and their businesses and state-owned enterprises as well,’ Pompeo vowed.
He also called on the US’s Middle East allies to take heed of the developing partnership between Tehran and Beijing.
The reported partnership between Tehran and Beijing threatens to dilute the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign that the Trump administration has piled on Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said last month that ‘There is nothing to hide about the deal’ with China and promised that details would be made public once they are finalised.
Beijing acknowledges talks about a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’ with Iran, but has not publicly commented on details.
