US presses China over Iran oil imports

[alp227]

US officials have expressed optimism China is open to working with Washington in its efforts to get major oil importers to reduce dependence on supplies from Iran.

The officials spoke after US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner arrived in Beijing as part of a lobbying effort which Washington hopes will add to the pressure on Tehran to curb its expanding nuclear programme.

“We are in the early stages of a broad global diplomatic effort to take advantage of this new legislation to significantly intensify the pressure on Iran. We are telling the (Chinese) what’s important to us and they are listening,” said a senior US official in Beijing after Mr Geithner met with Chinese officials on Wednesday. “We have a reasonable shot at getting a number of countries to wean themselves off Iranian oil.”

Mr Geithner, who will fly on to Japan on Thursday, is trying to convince Beijing and Tokyo, two of the largest buyers of Iranian oil, to diversify their energy sources. Washington is laying the ground for the use of new sanctions against Iran passed by Congress in response to an expansion in Iran’s nuclear programme, which western governments see as a further step towards nuclear weapons.

full: http://liveweb.archive.org/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4835b7b0-3c3c-11e1-8d72-00144feabdc0.html

[TigerToMany]

1. Good luck with that... China & Iran are best friends these days

China readily and willingly provides illicit missile and nuclear technology to Tehran, while other Chinese companies have been sanctioned by for aiding the Iranian terrorists. Chinese companies have been found supplying Iran with critical parts like carbon fiber, for example, for its centrifuges among other things.