Instead, officials highlighted growing US attention on smaller, privately run refiners in China’s eastern Shandong province, key purchasers of Iran’s oil. They warned more penalties could be added, the people said.
Singapore’s financial and maritime sectors should expect the Trump administration to ramp up pressure on Iran’s oil industry and on Chinese buyers of the country’s crude, US Treasury officials told bankers and shipping executives during a visit to the city-state late last week.
In the meetings with company executives and banks, Treasury officials emphasized that Washington would not be easing sanctions on Tehran, according to people present at the discussions or directly briefed by their companies. They asked not to be named as the exchanges are private.
