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Donald Trump announced secondary sanctions against Iranian oil while Washington intensifies a campaign of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic Republic in the midst of talks that were lacking on his nuclear program.
The American president said Thursday that anyone buying oil or Iranian products would be frozen by doing business with the United States, intensifying a repression against a vital source of income for Tehran and by tightening China, his largest importer.
“All Iranian oil purchases, or petrochemical products, must stop now!”, Trump wrote on his social platform of truth.
“Any country or person buying an amount of oil or Iran petrochemistry will be subjected, immediately, to secondary sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, in shape or form. ”
Trump has taken a difficult line on Iran, increasing sanctions targeting its energy sector after announcing in February a “maximum pressure” strategy “aimed at leading Iran oil exports to zero”.
We did not know how and when the latest measures would be implemented. The Treasury and State and National Security Council departments did not immediately respond to requests for more details.
Trump's announcement occurred after a fourth cycle of talks between the United States and Iran, which will be held this weekend in Rome, was postponed earlier on Thursday. Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who acts as a mediator, said on x that the delay was made “for logistical reasons”.
Oil jumped after the announcement, the Brent Brent crude, up 1.8% to $ 62.13 per barrel. US Marker West Texas Intermediate made similar gains to settle at $ 59.24 / barrel.
The American envoy Steve Witkoff and Abbas Araghchi, the best Iranian diplomat, held three cycles of talks in Muscat and Rome while the Trump administration pushes Tehran to accept an agreement to reverse its nuclear advances.
China – with which the United States is involved in a bitter trade war – is the country most exposed to the radical secondary sanctions of Trump. Beijing represents the vast majority of barrels of approximately 1.5 million per day of gross ship sent by Iran.
“If this is literally taken, it means that China … should choose between trade relations with Iran or the United States,” said Bob McNally, former adviser to President George W Bush and now head of Rapidan Energy Group. “If China chose to stop importing Iranian oil, Tehran would find it difficult to redirect these barrels to other countries.”
“Unless China defies the United States, Iran faces a catastrophic loss of exports and raw income. This step should advance coercive diplomacy more quickly to a diplomatic agreement or a military conflict,” he added.
Oil prices have declined strongly this year in the midst of the fears of a global recession resulting from the Trump trade war. OPEC + production also increases, giving Washington a greater room for maneuver to slap the sanctions against raw producing countries without injuring American consumers.
In March, Trump said the United States impose a 25% rate On all imports from any country that buys Venezuela oil as part of a pressure campaign against the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
