Pressure on Iran widens through oil, Hormuz and diplomatic reprisals
Washington's new sanctions package aimed at financial links to Iranian oil, talks over transit arrangements at Hormuz and reciprocal expulsions with France moved through different channels on the same day.
Geopolitics··Midday
The US package targets China's weight in Iranian oil
The sanctions package that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to detail on Monday is intended to reach countries that maintain financial ties with Iran. Al Jazeera reported that China takes about 90 per cent of Iran's oil sales; their 2025 goods trade was 9.96 billion dollars and oil shipments were 31.2 billion dollars. Washington added the Hengli Petrochemical refinery in Dalian, four Hong Kong-based firms and six shipping lines linked to China and Hong Kong to its sanctions lists during the year.[1]
Muscat and Tehran discuss a new Hormuz transit route
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi would meet Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Tuesday. Free Malaysia Today reported that Iran has required vessels transiting Hormuz to obtain permission and pay fees since the war began on 28 February. Tehran and Muscat are discussing a new route, but no agreement has been completed; Iran says that arrangement alone would not open the waterway unless wider demands, including lifting the blockade on its ports, are met.[2]
The dispute with France continues through reciprocal moves
France's expulsion of two Iranian diplomats followed Tehran's ban on two French diplomats. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Baqaei said the response was illegal and would not help bilateral relations. The statement reported by Naharnet is the latest known step in the reciprocal actions between the two governments and shows that Iran does not accept France's decision.[3]
