Trump Needs China’s Help to Effectively Sanction Iran

Filed 1mo ago · Via Foreign Policy · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Entrance of the Gladiators

Fučík — U.S. Marine Band · Public Domain

Photo: Heinrich Vogtherr the Younger · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration has threatened what it calls the toughest sanctions in history against Iran, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning that any nation maintaining ties to Tehran risks its own economic ruin. Bessent specifically called on China, which purchased more than 80 percent of Iran's shipped oil in 2025, to cut its business ties and 'get with the program.'

China's embassy in Washington rejected the pressure outright, stating that sanctions do not resolve the issue and calling for political and diplomatic solutions instead. Iranian officials, meanwhile, warned that new U.S. threats would be met with 'crushing, punishing, and devastating responses,' setting up a standoff in which the sanctions regime depends on a country that has shown no interest in participating.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Calling something the 'MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN' in all caps on social media is not itself a policy, and Beijing's shrug suggests it noticed the difference immediately. Threatening the entire world with economic oblivion works better when the party you actually need cooperation from doesn't just say no and go back to buying oil.

Source: Read the original at Foreign Policy → Scored: Entrance of the Gladiators · Fučík — U.S. Marine Band · CC BY 4.0