China knocks US sanctions on state-run firm over Iran
China: China has criticised the United States for imposing sanctions
on a state-run oil firm for exporting petroleum products to Iran, saying
the move was “without reason”.
Washington on Thursday slapped sanctions on China’s Zhuhai Zhenrong
Co., barring it from doing business in the United States, saying it
brokered delivery of more than $500 million worth of gasoline to Iran
from July 2010-January 2011.
“We express strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this,”
foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement carried by the
official Xinhua news agency late Saturday.
The sanctions, also placed on companies from Singapore and the United
Arab Emirates, bar the three firms from receiving US export licenses,
trade support from the US Export Import Bank, and loans over $10 million
from US financial institutions.
Liu said China’s cooperation with Iran was similar to other
countries.
“Like many other countries, China maintains normal cooperation with
Iran in energy, economic and trade fields,” he said, adding that the US
had acted unilaterally to impose the sanctions.
“This is without reason, and against the content and spirit of
resolutions by the United Nations Security Council on the Iran nuclear
issue.” Chinese state media Saturday quoted the company as dismissing
the US claims as “fiction”, with an official saying the firm doesn’t
export refined oil to Iran.
AFP |