In “How Independent Chinese Oil Refiners Defy US Iran Sanctions” (DW, 23 July 2025), Amir Fadavi comments on the business model of China’s “teapot” refineries—smaller Chinese oil companies that, despite U.S. sanctions and pressure from Washington and Beijing, buy Iranian oil at cut-rate prices through shell companies in Hong Kong. Amir notes: “It’s easier for [the Chinese refineries] to pay someone in Hong Kong rather than in Iran because there is no transactional relationship with Iran directly.”
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