China Exchanges Infrastructure Investments for Iranian Oil
Communist China is providing massive infrastructure projects to Iran in exchange for oil that would otherwise be sanctioned by the international community.
China’s communist leadership may be laundering money for Iran through the purchase of crude oil and bartered deals, Congress has heard.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “has provided an economic lifeline” to Iran as it supports Islamic terror organizations, said Gabriel Noronha, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America think tank.
The effort, he said, is vital to Tehran’s efforts to insulate itself from the effects of U.S.-led sanctions.
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“The Iranian regime is seeking to isolate itself from U.S. and Western sanctions by deepening economic ties with Russia and China,” Mr. Noronha said in his written testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on Oct. 26.
“In 2022, China bought an estimated $30 billion [of crude oil from Iran] and is set to purchase even more in 2023.”
Chinese Companies Buying Iranian Oil
Iran’s economic partners have come under scrutiny following a deadly attack in Israel by the Tehran-backed Hamas earlier this month.
The Islamist regime in Tehran, Mr. Noronha said, has supplied more than $20 billion to support foreign terror groups in the Middle East and provides Hamas with around 93 percent of its military budget.
The Biden administration did not enforce sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies at the time, as it sought to reestablish an Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. When that deal fell through, however, the administration began to penalize companies known to be violating the sanctions but stopped short of penalizing the CCP regime itself.
The limited U.S. response has not stopped the CCP from exploiting Iran’s need for cash flow.
Mr. Noronha said that that money could effectively help to wash funds for Iran through multiple non-sanctioned entities, allowing Tehran and Beijing to both profit.
“They may now be laundering that money through China to get rid of all humanitarian exemptions,” Mr. Noronha said.
CCP Sidesteps Sanctions With Barter Deals
There is some evidence that the CCP itself is helping Tehran with more direct, unsanctioned assistance.
Chinese state-owned entities appear to be making barter deals with Iran, for example, circumventing the need for sanctionable currency transactions altogether.
Tasnim News Agency, a media outlet associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in August, for example, that China would provide a €2.5 billion modernization of Iran’s largest airport. Instead of being paid in sanctionable cash, however, the report said that China would rather be paid in oil.
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