$31.2B OF IRANIAN CRUDE MOVED TO CHINA OFF THE BOOKS LAST YEAR

🔴 About $31.2 billion of Iranian crude moved to China last year without showing up in the trade books.

CNBC reports the U.S. announced an "economic D-Day" campaign Monday, threatening penalties against "enablers" that keep doing business with Tehran after nearly six months of war.

The target is a short list of governments that account for most of what is left of Iran's foreign trade.

China is first. It takes about 90% of Iran's oil exports, according to the U.S. government, and reported $9.96 billion in bilateral trade in 2025. That figure excludes roughly $31.2 billion in unreported crude, per the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

How it moves: independent Chinese refiners take the bulk, often rebranded as Malaysian or Indonesian crude and settled through intermediaries outside the dollar system, according to Kpler. Treasury has sanctioned several of those refineries this year while sparing Chinese banks.

The UAE, 50 miles across the Gulf, did around $28 billion in trade with Iran in 2024 and was its largest source of imports at over 30%. Last week it moved to suspend all trade and financial transactions with Iran after ballistic missiles were fired toward Emirati territory.

Turkey traded $5.7 billion with Iran in 2024 and has not signaled a cutoff. Iran's share of Turkish gas imports rose to 18.6% this year.

Iraq drew more than 30% of its 2023 electricity generation from Iranian imports and reportedly pays $4 billion to $5 billion a year for gas.

India's trade with Iran has slipped to around $1.6 billion, down from $2.3 billion.

Which of these countries actually stops buying?

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