China Backs Iran Nuclear Deal, Calls for New Middle East Forum

China's foreign minister Wang Yi has called for a new forum to defuse tensions in the Middle East after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart where he reiterated Beijing's support for Tehran.

Wang and Javid Zarif also reaffirmed their commitment to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, an implicit rebuke of the United States for abandoning the accord during their Saturday meeting in China's southwestern Tengchong city.

Iran has been locked in an acrimonious relationship with Saudi Arabia, the other major Middle Eastern power, over the war in Yemen, Iranian influence in Iraq and Saudi support for Washington's sanctions on Tehran.

"China proposes to build a regional multilateral dialogue platform with equal participation of all stakeholders," said the Chinese foreign ministry statement.

The forum would "enhance mutual understanding through dialogue and explore political and diplomatic solutions to security issues in the Middle East", the statement added.

Wang added that support for the Iranian nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama administration but ultimately abandoned by Donald Trump, would be a precondition of entry to the forum.

Zarif said on Twitter his "fruitful talks" with Wang amounted to a rejection of "US unilateralism" and had also focused on strategic ties and collaboration on the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Photo: FPRC

US Sanctions Chinese, UAE Firms Skirting Iran Oil Embargo

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions against 11 Iranian, Chinese and United Arab Emirates companies accused of helping to bypass the American embargo on Iran's oil exports.

"Iran must stop exploiting its natural resources to fund terror and destruction across the region," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned in a tweet.

It was the latest in a series of sanctions that Washington has slapped on foreign companies doing business with Tehran.

US President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of the international agreement signed with the country to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, which he said was ineffective, and immediately re-established and tightened US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The US State Department imposed punitive measures on Iran-based Abadan Refining Company, three China-based companies (Zhihang Ship Management CO Ltd., New Far International Logistics LLC, Sino Energy Shipping Ltd) and another based in the UAE (Chemtrans Petrochemicals Trading LLC). Three executives from Abadan, New Far and Sino Energy were also targeted.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department has added to its blacklist six firms also based in those countries for doing business with Triliance Petrochemical, a company sanctioned in January for its involvement in the sale of Iranian petrochemical products.

Treasury said those funds are "a key revenue source for the Iranian regime, helping to finance its destabilizing support to corrupt regimes and terrorist groups throughout the Middle East and, more recently, Venezuela."

The newly blacklisted companies are the Iranian firms Zagros Petrochemical Company, UAE-based Petrotech FZE and Trio Energy DMCC, and Chinese companies Jingho Technology Co. Limited, Dynapex Energy Limited and Dinrin Limited, based in Hong Kong.

Photo: State Department

Trump Vows 'Snapback' to Force Return of UN Iran Sanctions

By Sebastian Smith with David Vujanovic

US President Donald Trump vowed Saturday to use a controversial technique to unilaterally reinstate UN sanctions on Tehran, a move with huge repercussions for the Iran nuclear deal.

His declaration came a day after the UN Security Council overwhelmingly rejected a US resolution to extend an Iranian arms embargo.

"We'll be doing a snapback," Trump said during a news conference at his New Jersey golf club. "You'll be watching it next week."

The president was referring to the contested argument that the US remains a "participant" in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—despite Trump's withdrawal from it—and therefore can force a return to sanctions if it sees Iran as being in violation of its terms.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the US had failed to kill off what he called the "half alive" deal with major powers that gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

"The United States failed in this conspiracy with humiliation," said Rouhani.

"This day will go down in the history of our Iran and in the history of fighting global arrogance."

Only two of the Council's 15 members voted in favor of the US resolution seeking to extend the embargo, highlighting the division between Washington and its European allies since Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord in 2018.

The Europeans on the Council all abstained, and Iran mocked the Trump administration for winning the support of just one other country, the Dominican Republic.

"In the 75 years of United Nations history, America has never been so isolated," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi tweeted.

People on the streets of Tehran had mixed reactions.

"This is an American political game. One day they give a resolution to the Security Council, the next they say they have taken" Iranian fuel, said a worker at the city's Grand Bazaar who gave his name only as Ahmadi.

A drugstore employee named Abdoli told AFP she was happy Iran won, but added that it "should interact with the United States and establish relations.

Crisis

European allies have been skeptical on whether Washington can force sanctions, with experts saying a "snapback" threatens to plunge the Council into one of its worst-ever diplomatic crises.

Trump also said Saturday he would "probably not" take part in a summit proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on addressing the situation.

"I think we'll wait until after the election," he said, with the US set to hold its presidential poll in November. 

Putin had appealed to China, France, Britain, the US, Germany and Iran to convene an emergency video summit to avoid an escalation of tensions in the Gulf.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to Poland on Saturday, made it clear the United States would press on.

"It is unfortunate that the French and the United Kingdom... didn't support what the Gulf states have demanded, what the Israelis have demanded... I regret that deeply," Pompeo told reporters. 

"The United States is determined to make sure that the Iranians and this regime, this theocratic regime does not have the capacity to inflict even more harm on the world."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced a "scandalous" UN vote.

"Iranian terrorism and aggression threaten the peace of the region and the entire world. Instead of opposing weapons sales, the Security Council is encouraging them," he said.

Threatened

The embargo on conventional arms is due to expire on October 18 under the terms of a resolution that blessed the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Since Trump pulled out of the JCPOA and slapped unilateral sanctions on Iran, Tehran has taken small but escalatory steps away from compliance with the accord as it presses for sanctions relief.

European allies of the United States—who, along with Russia and China, signed the deal with Iran—have voiced support for extending the 13-year-long conventional arms embargo, saying an expiry threatens stability in the Middle East.

However, their priority is to preserve the JCPOA.

The US text at the Security Council on Friday, seen by AFP, effectively called for an indefinite extension of the embargo on Iran, which diplomats said would threaten the nuclear deal.

Iran says it has the right to self-defense and that a continuation of the ban would mean an end to the agreement.

Apart from 11 abstentions, Russia and China opposed the resolution.

"The result shows again that unilateralism enjoys no support, and bullying will fail," China's UN mission tweeted.

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Says Accord Under Negotiation With China 'Not Secret'

Iran has been negotiating a 25-year accord with China and the terms will be announced once a deal is struck, the foreign minister told a stormy session of parliament Sunday.

"With confidence and conviction, we are negotiating a 25-year strategic accord with China," Iran's top trading partner, Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

During the session, Zarif was heckled by lawmakers, largely over his key role in negotiating a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018 as a prelude to reimposing biting sanctions. 

It was his first address to parliament since a new house started work in late May in the wake of elections that were dominated by conservatives and ultra-conservatives.

Zarif insisted there was "nothing secret" about the prospective China deal.

The nation would be informed "when an accord has been concluded", he said, adding that the intention had already been made public in January 2016 when President Xi Jinping visited Tehran.

China is also a key market for Iranian crude exports, which have been severely curtailed by the US sanctions.

The 2015 nuclear deal had given the Islamic republic relief from international sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear program, but Iranian conservatives staunchly opposed that multilateral agreement, arguing the US could never be trusted.

But Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has come out publicly in support of a strategic bilateral partnership with China.

The planned China deal has been a hot topic on Iranian social media since populist ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month condemned negotiations underway with a foreign country.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Health Officials Cast Doubt on China Virus Tolls

Iranian health officials cast doubt Tuesday on China's reporting of its novel coronavirus toll, saying the figures appear to be too low.

"After the virus spread, it became evident it wasn't as China reported," said Minoo Mohraz, a health ministry official who is also a member of Iran's coronavirus-fighting taskforce.

"They're currently retracting many of their articles and their figures and studies have not been very correct," she said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

"With what we know of their scientific studies... their figures are not trustworthy."

Another taskforce official said China's figures were "far from the truth", based on COVID-19's spread and high fatalities worldwide.

Hamid Souri, an epidemiologist, said "distorted data leads to distorted decision-making".

Iran's health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour came under fire on Sunday after saying China's reporting of its COVID-19 figures was a "bitter joke.”

He was slammed on Twitter by the Chinese ambassador to Tehran, Chang Hua, who called on him to "respect realities and the great efforts of the people of China", where the pandemic originated.

Jahanpour later retreated and tweeted that "China's support of Iran in these trying times is unforgettable".

Iran-China relations are usually warm as Beijing is one of Tehran's top trade partners, especially in oil sales.

Iran says the virus has killed more than 3,800 and infected over 62,500 in the Islamic republic.

But there has been speculation abroad that the real number of deaths and infections could be higher.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Coronavirus Death Toll Jumps to 12

Four more people have died of coronavirus in Iran, a spokesman for parliament said Monday, bringing the country's overall death toll to 12—by far the most outside China.

"The minister of health announced the deaths of 12 people and 47 cases of infection in the country," Assadollah Abbassi was quoted as saying by semi-official news agency ISNA after a closed session of parliament.

Abbassi gave the same death toll in reports by Fars news agency and the Young Journalists Club, a branch of state television, but they quoted him as saying there were "around" 47 infections.

Quoting Abbassi, ISNA added that "according to the health minister... the cause of coronavirus infections in Iran are people who have entered the country illegally from Pakistan, Afghanistan and China".

On Sunday, Health Minister Said Namaki said one person who died of coronavirus in Qom, south of Tehran, was a businessman who had made several trips to China.

Namaki had unsuccessfully pleaded in January for Iran's government to order the suspension of all commercial flights between Iran and China.

In his remarks to state television on Sunday, the minister said direct flights between Iran and China were now suspended, but the Qom businessman had travelled there "on a connecting flight".

Iran has been scrambling to contain the COVID-19 outbreak since it announced the first two deaths in the holy city of Qom on Wednesday last week.

Authorities have since ordered the closure of schools, universities and other educational centres across the country as a "preventive measure".

Since it emerged in December, the new coronavirus has killed more than 2,500 people in China.

Iran now accounts for nearly half of the deaths elsewhere in the world, which currently stand at 30.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Reports Fifth Coronavirus Death, Most Outside Far East

By David Vujanovic

Iran on Saturday ordered the closure of schools and universities in two cities hit by a coronavirus outbreak that has killed five people in the country—the most outside the Far East.

The move came as Iranian authorities reported one more death among 10 new cases of the virus.

Since it emerged in December, the new coronavirus has killed 2,345 people in China, the epicentre of the epidemic, and 16 elsewhere in the world.

The COVID-19 outbreak in Iran first surfaced on Wednesday, when authorities said it claimed the lives of two elderly people in Qom, a Shiite holy city south of the capital.

They were the first confirmed deaths from the disease in the Middle East.

"We have 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19," Iran's health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told state television on Saturday.

"One of the new cases has unfortunately passed away," he added, noting that eight of them had been hospitalised in Qom and two in Tehran, without specifying where the death occurred.

The latest cases take to 28 the total number of confirmed infections in Iran.

Based on official figures, nearly 18 percent of those infected with the new coronavirus in Iran have died, compared with little more than three percent in China.

School Closure

As a "preventive measure", authorities ordered the closure of schools, universities and other educational centres in Qom and the nearby city of Arak from Sunday, state television reported.

The World Health Organization has expressed concern over the speed at which COVID-19 has spread in Iran, as well as it being exported from the Islamic republic to other countries including Lebanon.

"The concern is... that we have seen an increase in cases, a very rapid increase in a matter of a few days," said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO's global infectious hazard preparedness department.

"We are just wondering about also the potential of more exported cases in the coming days," she added.

The Iranian outbreak emerged in the lead-up to a parliamentary election on Friday.

State media said the disease had failed to dampen "the revolutionary zeal of Qom's people" to turn out to vote.

Iranians have been snapping up surgical face masks in a bid to avoid catching the virus.

Online retailer Digikala—Iran's equivalent of Amazon—said on Friday that it had sold 75,000 masks within a 36-hour period.

It said it was not claiming a commission on its mask sales, amid concerns that demand was causing prices to skyrocket on the black market.

'Epidemic has Started'

"Besides the high demand, we stand against the unusual price increase," Digikala tweeted.

"We stand alongside our dear suppliers and by providing fresh supplies, we hope we can meet a part of the country's demand."

The health ministry said tests had been carried out on 785 suspected coronavirus cases since the outbreak began.

"Most of the cases are either Qom residents or have a history of coming and going from Qom to other cities," its spokesman said.

Iran has yet to confirm the origin of the outbreak, but one official speculated that it was brought in by Chinese workers.

"The coronavirus epidemic has started in the country," state news agency IRNA quoted the health ministry's Minoo Mohraz as saying.

"Since those infected in Qom had no contact with the Chinese ... the source is probably Chinese workers who work in Qom and have travelled to China," she added.

But the official did not provide any evidence to support her claim, and it has not been reported elsewhere in Iranian media.

All of those who lost their lives are believed to be Iranian citizens.

Qom is a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims, attracting scholars from Iran and beyond.

Following the announcement of the deaths, neighbouring Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from the Islamic republic.

The Iraqi health ministry announced that people in Iran were barred from entering the country "until further notice".

Kuwait's national carrier Kuwait Airways also announced it would suspend all flights to Iran.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says Two More Deaths Among 13 New Coronavirus Cases

Iran on Friday reported two more deaths among 13 new cases of coronavirus in the Islamic republic, bringing the total number of deaths to four and infections to 18.

The COVID-19 outbreak first appeared in Iran on Wednesday, when officials said it killed two elderly people in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

They were the first confirmed deaths from the disease in the Middle East.

"Thirteen new cases have been confirmed," Iran's health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said. "Unfortunately two of them have lost their lives."

The newly reported cases included "seven in Qom, four in Tehran, and two in Gilan" on the Caspian Sea coast, Jahanpour tweeted.

"Most of the cases are still either Qom residents" or were people who had come from Qom to other provinces "in recent days and weeks", he added.

He did not comment on the suspected origins of the outbreak in the Islamic republic.

He added that Iran had so far received from the World Health Organization four shipments of medical kits used to detect COVID-19.

Qom is a centre for Islamic studies and tourists, attracting scholars from Iran and beyond.

However, a government official said the first two people who died of the disease had not left Iran.

Spread in Mideast

Following the announcement of those deaths, Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from the Islamic republic.

The health ministry in Baghdad said people from Iran had been barred from entering Iraq "until further notice".

Kuwait's national carrier Kuwait Airways also announced it would suspend all of its flights to Iran.

Iran was holding a parliamentary election on Friday, with state media saying that the coronavirus had not been able to dampen "the revolutionary zeal of Qom's people" to turn out to vote.

The new coronavirus has now claimed the lives of 13 people outside mainland China.

The United Arab Emirates last month became the first country in the Middle East to report cases of the coronavirus strain. It now has nine cases.

Egypt has also reported one case.

Israel on Friday became the latest country in the region to confirm a case of coronavirus, in a citizen who flew home from Japan after being quarantined on a stricken cruise ship.

Iran's health sector has been hit by sanctions imposed by the United States since Washington withdrew in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and world powers.

Photo: IRNA

Three New Coronavirus Cases in Iran After Two Deaths

Iran has confirmed three new coronavirus cases following the deaths of two elderly men, the health ministry told AFP on Thursday, as Iraq banned travel to and from its neighbor.

The pair who died were elderly Iranian citizens and residents of the city of Qom. They were the first confirmed deaths from the COVID-19 virus in the Middle East.

Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour said two of the new cases were also in Qom and the other was in Arak, south of the holy city.

"In total there were five cases... of which two have been fatal," he said.

Qom is a centre for Islamic studies and tourists, attracting scholars from Iran and beyond. However, a government official said the deceased men had not left Iran.

Following the announcement of the deaths, Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from the Islamic republic, with Iraq's health ministry announcing people in Iran were barred from entering the country "until further notice".

"Iranians are prohibited from entering (Iraq)," a senior official told AFP, adding that border crossings with Iran are now closed, with only returning Iraqis allowed to pass through.

These Iraqis will be examined and, if necessary, they will be placed "in quarantine for 14 days", the health ministry said.

Iraqi nationals are also not allowed to travel to Iran, according to the ministry.

The border closure followed a backlash against a Wednesday announcement of visa waivers for Iranian nationals wishing to travel to Iraq by the interior ministry.

Iraqis took to social media using the hashtag "close the border" and local officials called for a ban on the entry of goods and people through various border crossings with the Islamic republic.

Iraqi airports are already screening travellers for the virus and national carrier Iraqi Airways has suspended flights to Iran.

Each year, millions of Iranian pilgrims visit holy Shiite sites in Iraq, providing the Iraqi state with significant revenue.

Earlier Thursday, Iran's government spokesman Ali Rabiei said Tehran would set up a top-level body of government and defence officials to fight the virus' spread, according to state news agency IRNA.

"We, however, need global action (by authorities) and the cooperation of all citizens," Rabiei said on Twitter.

‘Hid the Truth'

The deaths in Iran were reported by local media on Wednesday, just hours after Tehran said there were two cases in the country.

On social media, several people accused the government of keeping silent to prevent panic ahead of Friday's parliamentary elections.

"Just four hours separated the announcement that two compatriots were infected... and their deaths," journalist Javad Heydarian tweeted.

"This signifies that the virus had been around for some days but they hid the truth."

Public confidence in government pronouncements has plummeted since the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane on January 8 that killed 176 people.

The government initially denied responsibility, but later admitted the plane had been fired on due to "human error" and blamed a jittery missile operator.

The culture ministry has asked local media to only publish official information from government officials and denounced what it claimed was a proliferation of fake news on social media regarding the virus.

Since December, the novel coronavirus has killed 2,118 people in China—the epicenter of the epidemic—excluding Hong Kong and Macau.

Elsewhere in the world, the virus has killed 11 people and spread across some 25 countries.

Photo: IRNA

Coronavirus Kills Two Iranians, First Mideast Deaths

Two people have died in Iran after testing positive on Wednesday for the new coronavirus, the health ministry said, in the Islamic republic's first cases of the disease.

According to YJC news agency, a branch of state television, the pair who died were Iranian citizens and residents of the holy city of Qom.

They are also the first deaths from the COVID-19 virus in the Middle East and only the seventh and eighth outside China, where the outbreak has killed more than 2,000 people.

State news agency IRNA quoted Kianoush Jahanpour, a ministry spokesman, as saying the virus was detected in two elderly people with immunity problems in Qom, south of the Iranian capital.

"Following the recent cases of chronic respiratory diseases in Qom, two of the patients tested positive in preliminary tests," it quoted him as saying.

"Unfortunately both passed away in the intensive care unit due to old age and issues with their immune system."

IRNA had earlier quoted Jahanpour as saying that the "new coronavirus" had been confirmed in two people and that other suspected cases were isolated.

The state news agency also quoted a media adviser to Iran's health minister as saying two people had died after testing positive for the coronavirus.

"Both of the people who had tested positive for coronavirus were in Qom and were old. Both have passed away," said Alireza Vahabzadeh.

Quarantine Hospitals Readied

Qom is a centre for Islamic studies attracting scholars from Iran and beyond.

However, the head of the health ministry's contagious diseases unit said the pair who died were Qom residents who were not known to have left Iran.

"These two were from Qom and visited (us) two days ago after falling ill... they didn't even have a history of going abroad," IRNA quoted Mohammad Mehdi Gouya as saying.

Another official in Qom said people suspected of being infected with the coronavirus would be put into quarantine in two hospitals.

Mohammadreza Ghadir, head of the city's medical sciences unit, told IRNA that "the spread of coronavirus in Qom has been controlled and we want the people not to worry about it."

The new coronavirus has now claimed the lives of eight people outside mainland China.

One has died in Japan, one in Taiwan, another in the Philippines and two in Hong Kong. One has also died in France.

The United Arab Emirates last month became the first country in the Middle East to report cases of the coronavirus strain.

Egypt has also reported cases.

Iran's health sector has been hit by sanctions imposed by the United States since Washington withdrew in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and world powers.

Photo: IRNA

U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Unit of China’s Biggest Shipping Company

By Stephen Cunningham

The U.S. lifted sanctions against a unit of China’s biggest shipping company that was accused of hauling Iranian crude in violation of American restrictions.

According to a notice posted on the Treasury Department’s website Friday in Washington, sanctions were removed. In September, restrictions were placed on the Dalian units of China COSCO Shipping Corp., sending freight rates soaring as traders canceled charters linked to the parent company. Four other Chinese entities were also sanctioned.

Tanker stocks DHT Holdings Inc, Nordic American Tankers Ltd., Frontline Ltd. and Teekay Corp. fell following Friday’s announcement, all dropping by more than 4%.

“With all of the sanctioned tankers back in the open market, overcapacity will weigh even faster and heavier on rates,” said Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at Bimco. “In combination with demand being low from China, this will be an added burden for the crude oil tanker market.”

Temporary Waivers

The penalties had barred U.S. citizens and companies from dealing with the firms, effectively blocking them from American banks at the heart of the global financial system. However, companies still doing business with the COSCO unit were twice given temporary waivers to wind down their transactions, with the latest one due to run out on Feb. 4.

“The actual impact via the COSCO sanctions was limited as temporary waivers allowed most of the vessels to continue to operate on global trade routes,” said Randy Giveans, vice president for equity research at Jefferies LLC in Houston. “And other vessels just switched to regional, short-haul trades.”

The announcement comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump called a truce in his trade war with China and signed what both sides called a “phase one” agreement. In October, people familiar with the matter said China was planning to ask the U.S. to lift the sanctions during trade negotiations in Washington.

Rates to transport oil had soared when the restrictions were placed on the COSCO units, data from the Baltic Exchange in London show. Daily earnings for 2 million-barrel carrying supertankers hit $300,000 a day briefly in October, before quickly retreating as trades become more challenging due to the high cost of moving cargoes. They still remained high by industry standards, though, and exceeded $100,000 as recently as this month.

Even if rates decline further after the return of the sanctioned ships, it won’t necessarily boost U.S. crude exports to China. Beijing’s 5% tax on American crude imports, in effect since September, is an obstacle.

”U.S. crude exports to China would still require the dismantling of Beijing’s U.S. crude tariffs,” said Frode Morkedal, managing director of equity research at Clarksons Platou Securities AS, an investment banking unit of the world’s biggest ship-broker.

Photo: FleetMon

U.S. Extends Clampdown on Iran With Sanctions on Energy Firms

By Serene Cheong and Elizabeth Low

The U.S. sanctioned four companies that it says have traded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals in its latest effort to clamp down on Iran’s revenue sources.

The Treasury Department penalized Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Sage Energy HK Limited, Peakview Industry Co. Limited, and Beneathco DMCC for dealings with the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co., it said in a Jan. 23 statement. The transactions helped finance Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and its terrorist proxies, the department said.

The move is a continuation of the White House’s aggressive strategy to penalize firms dealing with Iran, a country it nearly went to war with earlier this month. Last July, It sanctioned Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., a secretive company with links to the Chinese military and a history of taking Iranian crude and fuel. A couple of months after that it threw global shipping markets into disarray after it penalized a unit of COSCO Shipping Corp.

“Iran’s petrochemical and petroleum sectors are a primary source of funding for the regime’s global terrorist activities and enable its persistent use of violence against its own people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

In 2019, Triliance Petrochemical ordered the transfer of the equivalent of millions of dollars to NIOC as payment for Iranian petrochemicals, crude oil, and petroleum products shipped to the U.A.E. and China after the expiration of any applicable exceptions, the Treasury Department said. In facilitating these shipments, Triliance worked to conceal the origin of these products, it added.

Triliance and Sage are based in Hong Kong, while Peakview is headquartered in Shanghai and Beneathco in Dubai. Calls to Triliance’s head office went unanswered, while a person at Beneathco declined to immediately respond to questions. Contact information for Sage and Peakview wasn’t immediately available.

All property and interests in the property of the designated companies are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them, while foreign financial institutions that knowingly deal with them may be penalized, the department said.

Photo: IRNA

U.S. to Impose Sanctions on Iran’s Metal Exports and Leaders

By Jordan Fabian and Kevin Cirilli

The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Iran on Friday, including penalties on the Islamic Republic’s metals and some senior leaders, following Tehran’s attack on U.S. military bases.

The sanctions target the nation’s steel industry, as well as eight senior Iranian officials and other sectors of the economy, including construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

“We want Iran to simply behave like a normal nation,” Pompeo said at the White House.

The move comes one day after President Donald Trump said Iran would be sanctioned “immediately” for the airstrikes against two U.S. military installations in Iraq, which resulted in no casualties.

The administration first prepared the sanctions in December, before tensions escalated between the U.S. and Iran, leading to the Jan. 2 U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The new measures are aimed at cracking down on Iran’s few remaining sources of export revenue and squeezing the nation’s economy to force its leaders back into negotiations for a new nuclear agreement.

Tehran has repeatedly rebuffed the Trump administration’s overtures to talk, even as existing sanctions have crippled the Iranian economy. Yet President Hassan Rouhani has confronted street protests against price increases and corruption that has left his government politically vulnerable, potentially benefiting hardliners even more opposed to Washington.

Guidance from the State and Treasury Departments will warn ship insurers, banks, charter companies, port owners, crews and captains that they all face sanctions exposure if they can’t account for the legitimacy of the cargoes they carry.

The administration is seeking to close a significant loophole that allows Iran and other nations to avoid sanctions: ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil, refined petroleum and other goods.

Trump on Wednesday attempted to lower tensions with Iran by standing down from further military actions that could have sparked a new war in the Middle East.

Trump and top administration officials have said they are open to new talks with Tehran, but Iranian leaders have not been eager to reciprocate.

Photo: Wikicommons

China, Russia, Iran to Hold Joint Naval Drills

China, Russia and Iran will hold joint naval drills starting Friday in the Gulf of Oman, Beijing and Tehran said, at a time of heightened tensions since the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

Set to take place from December 27 to 30, the military exercises aim to "deepen exchange and cooperation between the navies of the three countries", Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters Thursday.

Wu said the Chinese navy would deploy its Xining guided missile destroyer—nicknamed the "carrier killer" for its array of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles—in the drills.

But he did not give details on how many personnel or ships would take part overall.

For Iran, the drill's purpose was to bolster "international commerce security in the region" and "fighting terrorism and piracy," said senior armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Aboldazl Shekarchi.

The exercise would "stabilise security" in the region and benefit the world, state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying on Wednesday.

The US reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran in May last year after withdrawing from the international deal aimed at tackling the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, prompting Tehran to hit back with countermeasures.

Remaining parties to the badly weakened 2015 deal include China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

China's foreign minister said the exercises were part of "normal military cooperation" between the three countries.

In June, US President Donald Trump authorized a military strike after Iran shot down a US drone, only to call off the retaliation at the last moment.

Photo: IRNA

Iran to Seek Advanced Arms as UN Embargo Expires, Pentagon Says

By David Wainer and Tony Capaccio

Iran will seek to modernize its forces by purchasing advanced weapons systems once a United Nations arms embargo expires next year, the Pentagon is warning in a new report.

Iran wants to purchase weapons “it has largely been unable to acquire for decades” when the embargo expires in October 2020 in a compromise that’s part of the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, according to an assessment released Tuesday by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Iran will be permitted to purchase weapons that it’s unable to produce domestically, such as advanced fighter aircraft and main battle tanks.

While U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord, his administration is pushing the international community to keep Iran from purchasing advanced weapons, arguing it will add to instability in the region. During a UN Security Council meeting in August, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo warned that the expiration of the embargo will unshackle Iran “to create new turmoil.”

“Because of the flawed Iran deal, the UN arms embargo on Iran will expire in one year,” Pompeo tweeted last month. “Countries like Russia and China will be able to sell Iran sophisticated weapons. The Iranian regime will be free to sell weapons to anyone. This will trigger a new arms race in the Middle East.”

Russian Weapons

Iran is already evaluating and discussing military hardware for purchase, primarily from Russia, but also to a lesser extent from China, the Pentagon report found. Iran’s potential acquisitions include Russian Su-30 fighters, Yak-130 trainers and T-90 tanks. Iran has also shown interest in acquiring the S-400 air defense system and Bastian coastal defense system from Russia, it said.

The report also highlights Iran’s growing use of unconventional tactics to deter large Western countries such as the U.S. Iran maintains an estimated inventory of more than 5,000 naval mines, which it can rapidly deploy in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz using high-speed small boats, it said.

It also warns that Iran’s forces are becoming “increasingly survivable, precise, and responsive.” It said the Islamic Republic’s capabilities, such as “swarms of small boats, large inventory of naval mines, and arsenal of antiship missiles” are a significant threat to maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Kenneth Katzman, the primary Iran expert for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, said the report reinforces a “growing consensus in the expert community that Iran is close to accomplishing its core national security goals—the ability to project power in all corners of the region and thereby deter any regional or international actor from attacking Iran.”

Photo: IRNA

China to Ask U.S. to End Sanctions on Its Biggest Shipping Company

By Sarah Chen

China plans to ask the U.S. to lift sanctions on its biggest shipping company at high-level trade negotiations in Washington this week, people familiar with the matter said.

Officials plan to raise the issue of penalties against the Dalian units of China COSCO Shipping Corp., which the U.S. accuses of knowingly violating restrictions on carrying Iranian petroleum, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Four other Chinese entities were also sanctioned last month along with Cosco. The people did not say if the Chinese delegation planned to seek relief for those companies.

The U.S. decision to impose sanctions on Chinese shipowners including COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation Co. prompted a bidding war as charterers scrambled to replace vessels owned by targeted companies. It sent costs for ships with oil-carry capacities ranging from 650,000 to 2 million barrels to a 2019-high, while supertanker day rates for the Middle East to China route surged to its highest in probably 11 years.

The penalties against the Chinese companies bar U.S. citizens and entities from dealing with the firms, effectively blocking them from American banks at the heart of the global financial system. China’s National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce didn’t immediately respond to faxes seeking comment on the request. China Cosco Shipping did not respond to an email and fax.

Top negotiators from both sides are scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday for the first face-to-face talks between senior officials since July. A Chinese official said earlier the country was open to reaching a partial deal. People familiar said separately the U.S. is seeking to include a previously-agreed currency pact in any agreement reached.

While the sanctions specifically targeted COSCO’s Dalian subsidiary, charterers indiscriminately shunned all tankers owned by its parent company and other units for fear of running afoul of the rules. This week, however, some oil traders once again started booking tankers operated by COSCO, although the charters are not expected to immediately bring calm to markets.

Photo: Fleetmon

Tanker Costs Surge as Chinese Firms Sanctioned Over Iranian Oil

By Alaric Nightingale and Firat Kayakiran

Oil-tanker costs are surging after the U.S. slapped sanctions on Chinese companies it accused of hauling Iranian crude, prompting a scramble in freight markets to secure alternative vessels.

Rates for ships hauling 2 million-barrel cargoes of Middle East oil to Asia jumped 15% or more, according to brokers. Shares of tanker operators also gained.

“There’s a lot of panic out there,” said Halvor Ellefsen, a tanker broker at Fearnleys in London. “Modern vessels are available, but just hard to get.”

The list of sanctioned Chinese companies includes a unit of COSCO Shipping Corp., which operates the world’s second-largest tanker fleet. The penalties bar U.S. citizens and companies from dealing with the sanctioned entities, effectively blocking them from American banks at the heart of the global financial system. As a consequence, oil traders spent the day canceling bookings and letting provisional charters lapse.

Tankers were being booked for about 75 Worldscale points for voyages to Asia, brokers said Thursday. A benchmark published by the Baltic Exchange in London was at 64 on Wednesday. Worldscale is an industry standard that allows traders to easily calculate costs and returns from thousands of different tanker routes. Shares of Frontline Ltd. advanced 8% in Oslo while Euronav NV gained 7.6% in Antwerp.

Rates were already rallying after attacks on Saudi oil installations earlier this month obliged traders to seek alternative cargoes, particularly from suppliers in the U.S. and elsewhere in the Atlantic Basin.

The sanctioned COSCO unit, COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co., operates 26 supertankers capable of hauling a combined 52 million barrels of oil, according to data from Clarkson Research Services Ltd. Its parent company is not affected by the sanctions, the U.S. Treasury said.

China opposes the penalties against its companies and citizens and has consistently disagreed with the U.S. imposing unilateral sanctions, Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said at a media briefing.

“Western charterers may avoid all those COSCO VLCCs, but China Inc. is still the largest importer of crude oil, so domestically alone there could be usage of those vessels,” said Jon Chappell, an analyst at Evercore ISI in New York. “Longer term it’s hard to see how it has a sustainable impact unless the ships are banned from global trading.”

Photo: Wikicommons

China Urges 'Restraint' from US, Iran After Saudi Oil Attack

China on Monday urged the United States and Iran to "exercise restraint" after a drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure, which Washington has blamed on Tehran.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also said it was not responsible to accuse others "in the absence of a conclusive investigation or verdict.”

"The Chinese side's position is that we oppose all actions that enlarge or intensify conflict," she told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

"We hope that both sides can exercise restraint and jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the Middle East," she added.

The drone strikes on Saturday, claimed by Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, hit two oil plants in Saudi Arabia and caused a record surge in oil prices, as output from the world's top exporter was slashed in half.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Tehran of launching the attack and said that the US would ensure "Iran is held accountable for its aggression."

On Sunday, President Donald Trump also hinted at a potential American military response to the attack by saying the US was "locked and loaded" to respond.

Iran, however, has dismissed accusations from the US, suggesting that Washington was seeking a pretext to retaliate against the Islamic Republic.

Photo: PRC MFA

Iran Turns to Asian Allies to Seek Relief from US Sanctions

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif kicked off his Asian tour in Beijing Monday, presenting a 25-year plan to cement Iran's ties with its biggest Asian trading partner amid biting US sanctions.

Zarif's Asian tour—which also includes stopovers in Japan and Malaysia—comes fresh on the heels of a surprise visit to the G7 summit in France over the weekend.

The summit in Biarritz saw a dramatic shift of focus when Zarif flew in at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the diplomatic deadlock on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

Iran's top diplomat didn't meet US President Donald Trump, French diplomats said, but the presence of the two men in the same place at least sparked hopes of detente.

Zarif was a key architect of the 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran, the United States, European powers, Russia and China.

In Beijing, Zarif met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and said the pair had discussed a 25-year road map to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

China has continued to purchase Iranian crude despite sanctions.

"We reject actions of interference by others in the affairs of progressive countries including Iran and China," China's foreign minister told reporters after the meeting with Zarif.

"We have stood together in dealing with these interventions and interferences and rejecting them as a major threat to international peace and security and friendly relations among countries."

Trump's policy of applying "maximum pressure" on Tehran via crippling sanctions has been criticised by European powers and China and is seen as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

In July, the US government imposed heavy sanctions seeking to hamper Zarif's travel, and effectively banning him from the United States.

Zarif tweeted that he was heading to Japan and Malaysia in the next leg of his Asian tour without offering details.

Photo: Javad Zarif Twitter

Bolton to Press Britain's Johnson on Iran

US National Security Advisor John Bolton was Monday to sound out British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on global disputes that include an escalating Gulf standoff with Iran.

The hawkish White House aide is the most senior US official to meet Johnson since he succeeded Theresa May as UK government leader last month.

A spokesman for Johnson said the two would talk about "a range of security issues, including Iran".

The meeting comes with US President Donald Trump's administration pursuing a "maximum pressure" campaign designed to force the Islamic republic to limit nuclear and military activities.

Washington also wants its close European ally to drop—or at the very least severely restrict—plans to use 5G technology made by China's Huawei when it rolls out the next-generation data network.

US media reports said Washington was not expecting a decision from London on either issue during Bolton's two-day visit.

The Downing Street spokesman said London's position on both Iran and Huawei "remains the same.”

Uncertain Future

Bolton's trip comes with Britain in political crisis and the pound straddling multi-year lows as deadline approaches for the UK to leave the EU after more than 40 years.

Johnson has vowed to meet the twice-delayed Brexit date—now October 31—even if it means leaving without a proper plan to regulate trade and other ties.

Senior UK economic officials and big industries warn that this "no-deal Brexit" option could create border chaos and set off global financial tremors in the short term.

The EU is refusing to re-open negotiations on the deal the bloc's 27 leaders signed last year with May. Johnson and his supporters call the existing agreement unfair.

But a clean break with the EU would allow the UK to immediately launch negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United States.

The US president openly rooted for Johnson during his campaign for May's job following her resignation over the Brexit impasse.

He branded Johnson as Britain's Trump and said the sides were on the verge of making a breakthrough in ties.

Britain and its European allies have irritated Trump's team by trying to save a landmark nuclear agreement with Iran which Washington pulled out of last year.

Britain last week decided to join forces with the US to protect merchant vessels in the Gulf.

It marked a departure in policy for Johnson following May's attempts to form a European-led group.

Britain's decision on Huawei—a private firm that Washington says is obliged to spy for the Chinese government—has been repeatedly delayed due to mixed signals from Trump about his own administration's next steps.

Johnson's spokesman said the UK government was "still assessing the impact" of Trump's decision in May to effectively ban Huawei from trading with US firms.

Photo: Wikicommons