Iran Reportedly Buying Oil Facilities in China to Bypass U.S. Sanctions as Economic Pressure Mounts
Iran is acquiring oil terminals and storage facilities in China to bypass U.S. sanctions, according to a new report.
Iran International cited confidential documents from the Oil Ministry. In them, Hamid Bovard, the former head of the National Iranian Oil Company and current acting oil minister, noted that authorities tasked intermediaries to keep using sanctioned vessels to transport oil and send them to designated ports.
He went on to say that the country’s Foreign Ministry negotiated with Beijing to acquire the facilities, which would become a hub for sanctioned oil trade. That would allow Tehran to sell Iranian oil directly in the Chinese market.
One of the locations is in the Ningbo-Zhoushan free trade zone, the other ones in the ports of Qingdao and Pant in the Shandong province. They are located near pipelines and would allow for the crude to be quickly transferred without going through other vessels.
Tehran has maintained close ties with Beijing throughout the war and despite mounting U.S. sanctions. Another report noted that the latter has sent about 1,300 air shipments with parts that can be used for drones and missiles over the course of the year.
The Wall Street Journal detailed that one shipment arrived in the country on June 17 and contained “dual-use” technology for the two weapons. Other ones include GPS devices, electric motors and aircraft engine parts.
The report went on to detail that cargo flights from China to Iran have surged over the past months, helping Tehran get key equipment to maintain hostilities as Washington maintains its blockade of the country’s ports.
Mahan Air, an Iranian airline sanctioned by the U.S., increased flights to China after the war began and was operating over two dozen ones by late April.
Iran has also been importing billions of dollars worth of military equipment and components through a hidden network of more than 5,000 agencies.
An investigation by Reuters found that one agency alone imported $2.3 billion in goods between January 2025 and June 2026. The purchases included explosives, chemicals used in rocket fuel, aircraft components and heavy-duty vehicles that can be adapted to launch missiles and drones.
The agencies operate under names beginning with MOD, referring to Iran’s Ministry of Defense, followed by identifying numbers. They share an address with the country’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, yet Reuters found no evidence that any of the numbered agencies had been individually designated by Western governments.
The value of imports handled by the agency fell sharply after the war began, declining 47% to $54 million in March compared with February. However, purchases recovered to $77 million by May, according to the records examined by Reuters.
In June, Iran received a shipment of Russian detonators valued at $1.9 million. It was the fifth such delivery since January 2025, bringing the total recorded value of those purchases to $7.6 million.
Other shipments included titanium, nitrocellulose and chemicals used in industrial manufacturing, some of which can also serve as ingredients for explosives and rocket propellants. Many of these products have legitimate civilian applications, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the exact contents of every shipment or determine how all the materials were ultimately used.
