China, Russia limit Trump's leverage in Iran isolation push
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
US President Donald Trump’s leverage over China and Russia in his campaign to isolate Iran is limited, as Russia already operates outside the US-led financial system and China repeatedly ignores US sanctions when it suits its economic interests. Trump on Tuesday threatened “tremendous economic consequences” for any country providing an economic lifeline to Iran. The UAE announced an indefinite trade embargo on Tehran after accusing Iran of launching two ballistic missiles at its territory.
Key Facts
- Trump on Tuesday threatened 'tremendous economic consequences' for countries that help Iran subvert US sanctions, citing oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries and front companies.
- The UAE announced an indefinite trade embargo on Tehran on Tuesday after accusing Iran's military of launching two ballistic missiles at its territory.
- Over 80 percent of Iran's shipped oil has been destined for China.
- The US Treasury in April imposed sanctions on a Chinese independent refinery for buying billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil and warned Chinese banks of secondary sanctions if they facilitated trade of Iranian oil.
- Russia is already under sweeping US sanctions and operates largely outside the US-led economic framework.
US Pressure and UAE Embargo
US President Donald Trump declared an 'economic D-Day' against Tehran on Tuesday, threatening the 'most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country' in a Truth Social post. He said there would be 'tremendous economic consequences' for countries that help Iran subvert US sanctions, citing oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries and front companies. Earlier the same day, the UAE announced an indefinite trade embargo on Tehran after accusing Iran's military of launching two ballistic missiles at its territory. Nader Habibi, a Middle East economics professor at Brandeis University, said he believed the US 'strongly encouraged or induced' the UAE to impose the trade embargo.
The China-Russia Factor
China bought 80 percent of Iran's shipped oil in 2025, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. Over the past decade, China has created a ring-fenced system of refiners that process mainly Iranian oil and have little exposure to the US financial system. Iranian oil delivered to China has long been branded as Malaysian, and more recently Indonesian, and trades in a tight loop settled in Chinese currency, involving a chain of difficult-to-track intermediaries. The US Treasury in April imposed sanctions on a Chinese independent refinery for buying billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil and warned Chinese banks of secondary sanctions if they facilitated trade of Iranian oil. Russia is already under sweeping US sanctions and operates largely outside the US-led economic framework, while Paul Musgrave of Georgetown University in Qatar said Trump is trying to unilaterally assert coordinated sanctions that traditionally required multilateral coordination.
3 sources
China, Russia limit Trump's leverage in Iran isolation push
