Washington (HRNW)- The United States is currently seeking to avoid imposing new sanctions on Chinese companies and buyers purchasing Iranian crude oil, as Washington weighs the potential diplomatic and economic consequences of targeting Beijing.
Former US national security official Mark Pfeiffer told Al Jazeera that President Donald Trump and the US Treasury Department could keep secondary sanctions against China as a future option if necessary.
Pfeiffer said the economic ties between China and the United States are deeply interconnected, making large-scale sanctions against Beijing diplomatically challenging. He said Washington currently appears focused on persuading China to obtain crude oil from alternative sources rather than Iran.
According to Pfeiffer, Chinese refineries have been purchasing Iranian crude at discounted prices despite US sanctions, giving them an economic advantage over international competitors. He also claimed that China has shown little interest in assisting Washington on the Iran issue.
The former US official warned that imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese companies could further increase existing trade and diplomatic tensions between the two countries and potentially affect global oil markets.
The issue comes as Washington continues efforts to increase economic pressure on Tehran, while China remains one of Iran’s major trading partners.
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