China And Russia Pledge To Defend Trade Ties With Iran Despite US Sanctions

China and Russia have condemned the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on countries trading with Iran

Both countries have pledged to maintain trade ties with Tehran after President Donald Trump warned countries against doing business with the Islamic Republic.

China has been particularly vocal about its desire to continue to keep doing business with Iran.

Addressing Trump’s decision Monday to reimpose sanctions on Tehran, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said “China has consistently opposed unilateral sanctions and long-armed jurisdiction

Press TV reports: ”China’s commercial cooperation with Iran is open and transparent, reasonable, fair and lawful, not violating any United Nations Security Council resolutions,” it said, adding “China’s lawful rights should be protected.”

Beijing has close economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran. It is Iran’s biggest oil customer, taking in more than 650,000 barrels per day from the country.

The world’s No. 2 economy is reportedly gearing up to take more and “vacuum up much of the Iranian oil that other nations won’t buy because of the threat of US sanctions.”

Chinese companies are also interested in Iran’s oil and gas projects.

State energy firms CNPC and Sinopec have invested billions of dollars in Iran’s giant Yadavaran and North Azadegan oil fields and eye participating in further developments of the deposits.

CNPC is also about to take over Total’s stake in the giant Iranian South Pars gas project after the French company decided to leave amid US sanctions.

Iran plans to increase the production potential of its oil fields by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the form of 34 projects, estimated to cost more than $6 billion.

Russia ‘deeply disappointed’

As many as 12 projects in Iran’s petroleum sector have been presented to Russia’s Gazprom, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Zarubezhneft, Taftneft and Lukoil for development.

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is prepared to continue its oil investment in Iran at the level of $50 billion in the face of US plans to reimpose sanctions on the Iranian oil and gas sector on November 4.

On Tuesday, Russia said it was “deeply disappointed by US steps to reimpose its national sanctions against Iran” as it pledged to do “everything necessary” to protect its shared economic interests with Tehran.

“This is a clear example of Washington violating UN Resolution 2231 (on the Iran nuclear deal) and international law,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement dismissed US hopes to browbeat Iran into submission through exerting fresh pressures on the country.

“As long-term experience has shown, it will not be possible to gain concessions from Iran using pressure,” it said.

Russia called on the international community to save the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and “not to allow such significant achievements in multilateral diplomacy to be sacrificed in the name of American aspirations to settle political scores with Iran.”