Beijing will take 'reasonable energy security measures' after Trump said China can buy Iranian oil

BEIJING: Beijing said on Wednesday (June 25) that it would take measures to safeguard its energy security, after U.S. President Donald Trump said China can continue to purchase Iranian oil in the wake of the Israel-Iran ceasefire deal, a move that the White House clarified did not indicate a relaxation of U.S. sanctions.

AI Brief

China says it will take steps to safeguard its energy security following US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump highlighted that Iran hasn't closed the Strait of Hormuz, which would hurt China's oil imports.
China criticises US sanctions as unilateral and illegal, though their impact on Iranian oil exports remains limited.

"China will take reasonable energy security measures in accordance with its own national interests," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular news briefing on Wednesday.

"Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also," Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday (June 24), just days after he ordered U.S. bombings of three Iranian nuclear sites.

Trump was drawing attention to no attempts by Iran so far to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, as a closure would have been hard for China, the world's top importer of Iranian oil, a senior White House official told Reuters.

China has long opposed what it has called Washington's "abuse of illegal unilateral sanctions."

The impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran's exports has been limited since Trump's first administration when he cracked down harder on Tehran.