President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed during a White House meeting on Wednesday that the United States would work to reduce Iranian oil exports to China, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials briefed on the matter.
Axios reported on Saturday, citing a senior U.S. official, “We have agreed to do everything in our power to put maximum pressure on Iran, for example regarding sales of Iranian oil to China.”
Asked about the report, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that “normal cooperation between states within the framework of international law is reasonable and legal and should be respected and protected.”
China accounts for more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports. A decline in that trade would mean less oil revenue for Iran.
Last week, U.S. and Iranian diplomats held talks over Iran’s nuclear program through an intermediary in Oman in a bid to resume diplomacy after the U.S. president deployed a naval fleet to the region as the U.S. military prepares for the possibility of weeks of sustained operations against Iran. (Reporting by Lisa Bertlein in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Che Pan and Ryan Wu in Beijing; Editing by Sergio Non and Diane Craft)
