Trump’s High-Stakes Beijing Visit Faces New Strain As US Blackls 12 Entities Over Secret Iran Oil Deals
3 min readMay 12, 2026 06:51 PM The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against 12 individuals and entities on Monday, which are accused of allegedly helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for selling and transporting oil to China. The sanctions target companies and individuals based in Hong Kong, Iran, the UAE and Oman.
The move the US Treasury Department followed an embargo announced on Friday against entities and officials for helping purchase Iranian weapons and components which are utilised in making drones and ballic missiles.
China “firmly opposes” United States’ sanctions against 12 individuals and entities that it said facilitated the sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China.#China pic.twitter.com/RmqEMXcqgv
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 12, 2026
Companies targeted US sanctions:
Hong Kong Blue Ocean Ltd
Hong Kong Sanmu Ltd
Ocean Allianz Shipping LLC
Atic Energy FZE
Zeus Logics Group
Jiandi HK Ltd
Max Honor International Trade Co Ltd
Blanca Goods Wholesaler LLC
Universal Fortune Trading LLC
Beijing Calls Sanctions ‘Illicit’
Chinese Foreign Minry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, while responding to a query related to the US penalty against 12 entities, said “China firmly opposes illicit unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or the authorization of the UN Security Council.”
Jiakun further added, “The Chinese government always asks Chinese companies to operate in accordance with laws and regulations. We will firmly protect Chinese businesses’ legitimate rights and interests.”
Washington Vows Continued Pressure on Iran
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the American government would continue to impose embargo on companies and individuals in order to restrict the Iranian government and its army from funding their weapons, its nuclear programmes or support proxy terror groups in the region.
Bessent added that the treasury department will continue to “cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks” it uses to carry out the alleged terror activities in the region which destabilises the global economy.
This comes amid US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing this week, where he is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders are expected to address trade disputes and strengthen dialogue.
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