US President Donald Trump had announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel on June 23, 2025.
On June 24, 2025, the US president, in a social media post, also said:
“China can now continue to purchase oil from Iran…. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also. It was my great honor to make this happen!’
Trump had announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel on June 24, 2025.
The White House tried to clarify that Trump’s tweet should not be misconstrued and the US president was referring to the Strait of Hormuz remaining open. US Treasury and State Department officials were also surprised by Trump’s remarks.
In the first quarter of 2025, China purchased 5.4 million barrels per day (bpd) through the Straits of Hormuz. One-fifth of global oil production passes through the strait, which lies between Oman and Iran. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) referred to the channel as a “critical oil chokepoint.”
Trump’s earlier warnings to countries buying oil from Iran
In May 2025, Trump had said that any country that purchases oil from Iran “will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.”
China accounts for a significant percentage of Iran’s oil exports. Iranian oil accounts for 13.6% of China’s oil purchases. In the first six months of 2025, China purchased an average of 1.38 million bpd of Iranian oil (this is less than last year’s average of 1.48 million bpd).
US reaches out to China during Israel-Iran conflict.
During the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had asked China to prevail upon Iran to not close the Strait of Hormuz. The US Secretary of State said:
“If they [close the Straits]… it will be economic suicide for them. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”
Iran’s Defense Minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting held at Qingdao (China). Iran thanked the latter for “understanding” and supporting Iran’s position during the Israel-Iran conflict.
Deterioration of US-Iran ties
US-Iran ties have witnessed a downward slope ever since the US withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal 2015, referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018—during Donald Trump’s previous stint as US president. In his current stint, Trump has sought to engage with Iran and focused on preventing Iran from going nuclear. The US had struck three nuclear facilities in Iran—Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan—with “bunker buster” bombs (later on, the US stated that it did not use “bunker buster” bombs on one site). Iran, in retaliation, had attacked US military bases in Qatar. The US president also backtracked from his comments pertaining to regime change in Iran, saying that it would lead to further uncertainty. On June 27, 2025, Trump said that if Iran went back to enriching uranium to concerning levels, then he would not refrain from bombing Iran.
Biden’s attempts towards easing US-Iran tensions
Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, had also made efforts to reduce tensions with Iran and revive the 2015 nuclear deal but had limited room for negotiation since he was preoccupied with other economic and geopolitical challenges—especially the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Biden did ease sanctions on Iran and had been accused by Trump and several other Republicans of going soft on Iran. Trump stated that the easing of sanctions vis-à-vis Iran had given it the space to provide financial support to its proxies and the subsequent conflict in the Middle East, which began in October 2023.
China-Iran 25-year strategic agreement
China’s ties with Iran have meanwhile improved significantly. Both countries had signed a 25-year strategic agreement in 2021—referred to as the “strategic cooperation pact.” The deterioration of ties between Tehran and other Western countries has resulted in Iran being increasingly dependent upon China. Iran has also sought to strengthen ties with Russia.
The US also acknowledges China’s clout vis-à-vis Iran. During the Houthi attacks (Houthis are an Iranian proxy) on the Red Sea, the US had asked China to step in and talk to Iran. Later on, the US accused Beijing of arming Houthis (China denied the same).
Conclusion
In conclusion, while it remains to be seen if the ceasefire between Iran and Israel holds and whether US-Iran talks over a nuclear deal can resume, given that both Washington and Tehran seem to be taking a strong posture, there is no doubt that China’s clout vis-à-vis Iran has increased in recent years. The US is also mindful of the same, and that is why it has repeatedly urged China to use its leverage vis-à-vis Tehran. While publicly, the US may be opposing the purchase of Iranian oil, permitting Beijing to purchase Iranian oil or turning a blind eye to violations of US sanctions vis-à-vis Iran may be driven by sheer pragmatism.
