China Hits Back At US ‘Economic Warfare’ Against Iran, Defends Ties With Tehran
China Hits Back At US ‘Economic Warfare’ Against Iran, Defends Ties With Tehran
“China is firmly against sanctions that have no basis in international law or UN Security Council mandate,” Lin said.
China has condemned the latest economic sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, rejecting Washington’s attempt to isolate Tehran financially and warning that “economic warfare” and maximum pressure would only escalate tensions and disrupt the global financial order.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the position known in a statement issued on Tuesday and shared on the ministry’s official X handle, in response to the new US sanctions and threats to punish countries that continue doing business with Iran.
https://x.com/MFA_China/status/2092249779829141891
“China is firmly against sanctions that have no basis in international law or UN Security Council mandate,” Lin said.
He added, “Economic warfare and maximum pressure provide no solution. They only serve to fuel tensions, disrupt global economic and financial order, and hurt everyone else’s interests. Dialogue and negotiation is the only right way forward.”
The statement comes after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new wave of sanctions targeting Iran and warned countries and entities maintaining financial relations with Tehran that they could face consequences, including exclusion from the US dollar financial system.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the US Treasury Department, in a statement on Monday, said the latest measures target nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels across several jurisdictions allegedly involved in activities including the trade of nuclear and missile technology with Iran, support for Iranian cyber operations, and the movement of Iranian oil.
More than a third of the newly sanctioned entities and individuals, that is 21, are based in China.
The US Treasury also identified digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping as sectors that could face potential secondary sanctions as Washington intensifies pressure on Iran.
Beijing, however, defended its economic relationship with Tehran, insisting that its cooperation with Iran is conducted within the framework of international law.
“China’s cooperation with Iran complies with international law,” Lin said. “We are closely following the situation and will do everything necessary to protect China’s rights and interests.”
The warning signals a potential escalation in tensions between Washington and Beijing, particularly as a significant portion of the individuals and entities targeted by the latest US sanctions are based in China.
The sanctions also raise the prospect of a wider confrontation over the use of the US dollar and the global financial system to enforce American foreign policy objectives.
China has consistently criticised unilateral sanctions that it says are imposed without authorisation from the United Nations Security Council, arguing that such measures undermine international law and interfere with the sovereignty of other states.
The Chinese response followed Bessent’s announcement of what he called “Operation Economic Outcast”; an intensified campaign designed to sever Iran from financial connections around the world.
In a statement shared on his official X handle on Monday, Bessent compared the campaign to the Allied D-Day operation during World War II.
“In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries,” Bessent wrote on X on Monday.
https://x.com/SecScottBessent/status/2091951925793013900
“Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe,” he said.
According to Bessent, Washington’s objective is to cut off what he described as the economic lifelines sustaining Iran’s government.
“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” he said.
The Treasury Secretary further warned countries and companies that continue to maintain economic relations with Tehran.
“Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership. Those who tether themselves to Tehran should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime,” he said.
Bessent described the sanctions as a major escalation in the Trump administration’s approach to Iran, arguing that previous US administrations had failed to adequately confront Tehran.
“President Trump has taken action that his predecessors have long deferred. Under his leadership, America is no longer managing the Iranian threat. We are ending it,” he said.
The latest confrontation comes amid worsening economic pressure on Iran, with Bessent pointing to a sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial.
He recalled comments he made at the Economic Club of New York on March 6, 2025, when he said that if he were Iranian, he would move his money out of the rial.
“At the time, ‘official inflation’ was 35%, the currency had depreciated by 60%, and the exchange rate was 887,500 rials to the U.S. dollar,” Bessent said.
He claimed that Iran’s currency had since deteriorated further, saying it had fallen through the level of 2 million rials to the US dollar.
“3 million, here we come!” he wrote in another post on Monday.
The economic pressure has also been acknowledged by Iran’s central bank leadership.
Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati reportedly said over the weekend that simultaneous declines in oil revenues, tax income and social security contributions had affected different sectors of the Iranian economy.
