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Donald Trump has announced secondary sanctions on Iranian oil as Washington intensifies a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic amid faltering talks over its nuclear programme.
The US president said on Thursday that anyone buying Iranian oil or products would be frozen out of doing business with the US, stepping up a crackdown on a vital revenue source for Tehran and further squeezing China, its biggest importer.
“All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social Platform.
“Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.”
Trump has taken a tough line on Iran, escalating sanctions targeting its energy sector after announcing in February a “maximum pressure” strategy “aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero”.
It was unclear how and when the latest measures would be implemented.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “We’ve been very clear and consistent in our actions up until this point: anyone that seeks to engage in or facilitate any stage of Iran’s oil supply chain — including refineries, purchasers, brokers and shippers, among others — is placing itself at significant sanctions risk.”
The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for further details.
Trump’s announcement came after a fourth round of talks between the US and Iran, due to be held this weekend in Rome, was postponed earlier on Thursday. The foreign minister of Oman, which is acting as a mediator, said on X that the delay was made “for logistical reasons”.
Oil jumped following the announcement, with international benchmark Brent crude settling up 1.8 per cent at $62.13 a barrel. US marker West Texas Intermediate made similar gains to settle at $59.24/barrel.
US envoy Steve Witkoff and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat, have held three rounds of talks in Muscat and Rome as the Trump administration presses Tehran to agree a deal to reverse its nuclear advances.
China — with which the US is embroiled in a bitter trade war — is the country most exposed to Trump’s sweeping secondary sanctions. Beijing accounts for the vast majority of the roughly 1.5mn barrels a day of crude shipped by Iran.
“If taken literally, it means that China . . . would have to choose between commercial relations with Iran or the United States,” said Bob McNally, a former adviser to President George W Bush and now head of Rapidan Energy Group. “If China opted to stop importing Iranian oil, Tehran would struggle to redirect those barrels to other countries.”
“Unless China defies the United States, Iran is facing a catastrophic loss of crude exports and revenue. This step should move coercive diplomacy quicker towards either a diplomatic agreement or military conflict,” he added.
Oil prices have dropped sharply this year amid fears of a global recession stemming from Trump’s trade war. Opec+ production is also rising, giving Washington greater leeway to slap sanctions on crude-producing countries without hurting American consumers.
In March, Trump said the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil from Venezuela as part of a pressure campaign against President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
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