President Donald Trump on Thursday said any country purchasing oil from Iran will be barred from doing business with the U.S., with the threat of “secondary sanctions” coming amid a bubbling trade war and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump’s threat is an escalation against both Iran and China — the world’s largest importer of Iranian oil.
“ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions,” the president said in a post on Truth Social. “They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.”
Trump did not specifically bring up China in the statement. But the country’s imports of Iranian crude oil reached a record 1.8 million barrels per day in March, according to Vortexa, an energy and freight market analytics company.
