China rejected President Barack Obama’s decision to move forward with plans for sanctions on countries buying oil from Iran, saying on Saturday that Washington had no right to unilaterally punish other nations.
South Korean officials said they will continue working with the US to reduce oil imports from Iran, as other US allies who depend on Iranian oil worked to find alternative supplies.
Mr Obama announced that he is plowing ahead with the potential sanctions, which could affect US allies in Asia and Europe, as part of a deepening campaign to starve Iran of money for its disputed nuclear programme. The US and allies believe that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb; Iran denies that.
China is one of the biggest importers of Iranian oil, and its foreign ministry reiterated its opposition to the US moves.
“The Chinese side always opposes one country unilaterally imposing sanctions against another according to domestic law. Furthermore it does not accept the unilateral imposition of those sanctions on a third country,” the ministry said in a brief statement on Saturday.
Beyond the rhetoric, Beijing has taken a two-pronged approach to the US demands, insisting that China has the right to import oil from Iran or any other country while quietly reducing imports of Iranian oil. Though the government has not explained the reductions, oil traders have said it may stem more from a pricing dispute with Iran than as a response to US pressure.
Behind the scenes, Washington has repeatedly encouraged Beijing to seek supplies elsewhere, and Saudi Arabia offered to fill a shortfall when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Gulf countries early this year. The looming US sanctions aim to further isolate Iran’s central bank from the global economy.
The move clears the way for the US to penalise foreign financial institutions that do oil business with Iran.
Mr Obama’s goal is to tighten the pressure on Iran, not allies, and already the administration has exempted 10 EU countries and Japan from the threat of sanctions beca-use they cut their oil purchases from Iran.