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Iran used oil-for-goods deals with China to bypass sanctions, sources say

The secretive trade mechanism has moved $2 billion to $2.5 billion in oil proceeds over the past year, sources said.

  • Iran has utilized a clandestine barter-like arrangement to bypass US sanctions, exchanging oil for Chinese goods including military equipment, according to senior sources. This mechanism has provided a financial lifeline for Tehran amid intensified US pressure.
  • Established in 2021, the system allows Tehran to acquire essential imports without utilizing international banking channels. China, purchasing over 80% of Iran's shipped oil, uses these arrangements to resist US economic coercion.
  • Funds move through a China-based financial entity called ChuXin, with estimates showing between $2 billion and $2.5 billion moved through the network over the last year. Roughly 70% of proceeds are allocated to infrastructure projects.
  • China's foreign ministry stated it was "not familiar with the situation you describe," reiterating opposition to unilateral sanctions. A US official noted the administration works with partners to "deprive Iran of the material means of furthering its nuclear ambitions."
  • Andrea Ghiselli, an international politics lecturer at the University of Exeter, stated China employs these mechanisms to show it cannot be coerced by secondary sanctions. However, he noted Chinese leaders remain wary of having their banks excluded from the international financial system.
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28 Articles

Lean Right

The mechanism allows calculations to be made without direct payments by Iranian companies to Chinese suppliers through the international banking system.

·Kyiv, Ukraine
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(Cairo=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Sang-hoon = Iran is circumventing high-intensity U.S. economic sanctions by establishing a secret trade network with China based on a 'barter' system, and billions of dollars in [currency]...

·Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)
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ReutersReuters
+12 Reposted by 12 other sources
Center

EXCLUSIVE: How a billion-dollar sanctions dodge kept Chinese goods ...

·London, United Kingdom
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Jerusalem PostJerusalem Post
+2 Reposted by 2 other sources
Center

Iran dodges sanctions using barter system to buy billions of dollars of Chinese goods

The secretive trade mechanism, in which Iranian oil is exchanged for credits for Chinese imports, has provided a financial lifeline for Tehran in recent years.

·Jerusalem, Israel
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Bias Distribution

  • 58% of the sources lean Right
58% Right

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WTVB broke the news on Thursday, September 10, 2026.
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