Exclusive-How a Billion-Dollar Sanctions Dodge Kept Chinese Goods Flowing to Iran
The mechanism has routed $2 billion to $2.5 billion a year through opaque entities, helping Tehran buy imports while shielding Chinese firms from scrutiny.
- Iran has utilized a clandestine barter-like arrangement to bypass US sanctions, exchanging oil for Chinese goods including military equipment, according to senior sources. This mechanism has provided a financial lifeline for Tehran amid intensified US pressure.
- Established in 2021, the system allows Tehran to acquire essential imports without utilizing international banking channels. China, purchasing over 80% of Iran's shipped oil, uses these arrangements to resist US economic coercion.
- Funds move through a China-based financial entity called ChuXin, with estimates showing between $2 billion and $2.5 billion moved through the network over the last year. Roughly 70% of proceeds are allocated to infrastructure projects.
- China's foreign ministry stated it was "not familiar with the situation you describe," reiterating opposition to unilateral sanctions. A US official noted the administration works with partners to "deprive Iran of the material means of furthering its nuclear ambitions."
- Andrea Ghiselli, an international politics lecturer at the University of Exeter, stated China employs these mechanisms to show it cannot be coerced by secondary sanctions. However, he noted Chinese leaders remain wary of having their banks excluded from the international financial system.
15 Articles
15 Articles
(Cairo=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Sang-hoon = Iran is circumventing high-intensity U.S. economic sanctions by establishing a secret trade network with China based on a 'barter' system, and billions of dollars in [currency]...
EXCLUSIVE: How a billion-dollar sanctions dodge kept Chinese goods ...
Jerusalem Post
Iran dodges sanctions using barter system to buy billions of dollars of Chinese goods
The secretive trade mechanism, in which Iranian oil is exchanged for credits for Chinese imports, has provided a financial lifeline for Tehran in recent years.
It has been reported that a special barter-like system was used with China to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Iran. According to sources, Iran bought goods worth billions of dollars in exchange for selling oil to China.
Iran Reportedly Uses Alternative Trade System to Bypass Western Sanctions
Iran Reportedly Uses Alternative Trade System to Bypass Western Sanctions Tehran is reportedly using a covert trade mechanism resembling a barter and credit system, allowing proceeds from Iranian oil sales to China to be converted into credits that can be used to purchase a range of goods. According to reports, around $2–$2.5 billion flowed […] The post Iran Reportedly Uses Alternative Trade System to Bypass Western Sanctions first appeare…
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- 57% of the sources lean Right
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