US report highlights China's growing strategic ties with Iran

The U.S. Congressional Committee for the Audit of China-U.S. Security and Economic Relations has released its annual report for 2024, which contains findings revealing the deep ties between China and Iran, including the secret way in which the ayatollahs' regime supplies oil to the Chinese despite the sanctions.

According to the report, China imported 1.176 million barrels of oil from Iran every day, during 2023, about 9% more than in the previous year. This means that China buys about 90% of all the crude oil that Iran produces, and the ayatollahs' regime was the fourth largest supplier of oil to China, shortly after Iraq.

However, according to Chinese customs, no documentation of Iranian oil was recorded in 2023. The report said that this was because the black gold reached other ports, in Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and from there it reached China. Thus, in a move that was entirely deceptive, the oil that reached China was registered as "Middle Eastern oil" and not Iranian.

During 2024, the amount of oil imported from Iran increased even more, reaching 1.4 million barrels every day. The Iranians, of course, provide the Chinese with the black gold at a discount. The oil (for which there are sanctions, mainly American) is transported through what the report calls a "dark fleet."

The fleet is made up of old oil tankers that use a variety of tactics and different ways to avoid detection. Options include turning off signaling systems when they approach an Iranian port, sending a fake location, and transferring the black gold between ships (ship-to-ship) outside of authorized transfer areas using bad weather conditions to conceal the operation.

* Channel 14 contributed to this article.