Is China learning to live without Iranian oil?

AI Summary

The article examines whether Chinese independent “teapot” refineries are reducing purchases of Iranian oil, potentially weakening Tehran’s ability to withstand U.S. sanctions and naval pressure. Their behavior is presented as driven by economic self-interest rather than political alignment.

In the cat-and-mouse game of US naval blockades and oil sanctions, small, fleet-footed independent refineries in China may be gifting Washington the economic leverage over Tehran that it has been struggling to achieve. It is not that China’s so-called teapot refineries are taking sides. Rather, it is pragmatic economic self-interest that is increasingly pushing the ...