US lawmakers pass new Iran sanctions bill

"…Iran’s oil exports have staged a comeback in recent years after the reimposition of sanctions sliced them from over 2m barrels per day in 2018 to a few hundred thousand when the measures were fully implemented in 2019. According to preliminary figures from tanker trackers at US lobby group United Against Nuclear Iran, exports averaged 1.5m bpd in the first quarter of 2024, making it Iran’s best first quarter in the post-sanctions era. China buys 80% of Iran's oil exports. The Middle Kingdom’s smaller and semi-independent “teapot” refineries account for about 20% of China’s total oil imports, according to UANI, but they also take in the bulk of Iran’s exports. Importing Iran’s oil through these smaller refineries helped Beijing obscure its role and protect its large, stateowned enterprises from US scrutiny, UANI said. The teapots are both harder to uncover and are less exposed to the US financial system."