President Donald Trump says he is considering whether to lift U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies buying Iranian oil, turning China’s energy ties with Tehran into a possible bargaining chip in the fight to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The comment came as Trump returned from Beijing, where he said Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that Iran must reopen the strait. China, however, has not publicly committed to pressuring Tehran and instead said the war “should never have happened” and has “no reason to continue,” according to Reuters reporting carried by U.S. News & World Report.
Trump puts Chinese oil sanctions on the table
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was weighing whether to lift sanctions on Chinese oil companies that buy Iranian crude. China is Iran’s largest oil customer, which gives Beijing unusual leverage at a moment when Washington is trying to force a maritime opening without restarting full-scale strikes.
“I’m not asking for any favors because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return,” Trump said when asked whether Xi had made a firm commitment to pressure Iran over Hormuz, Reuters reported.
That caveat matters. Washington is presenting China as a potential pressure point on Tehran. Beijing is not. China’s foreign ministry criticized the conflict itself and did not confirm that Xi had agreed to a U.S.-led pressure campaign.
Hormuz remains the center of the crisis
The Strait of Hormuz carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply before the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began. Iran’s restrictions, U.S. blockade pressure, and repeated attacks or seizures near the waterway have pushed shipping and energy markets into crisis.
The maritime picture remains unstable. The Associated Press, via PBS NewsHour reported that a ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran, while an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank near Oman after an attack. Indian officials said all 14 crew members were rescued.
AP also reported that Iranian officials have continued to assert control over the waterway, with one senior official saying Iran would not give up the strait “at any price.” Tehran has argued it has the right to seize tankers linked to the United States, while the U.S. says Iran’s threats alone are already affecting insurers and commercial shipping.
China is being pulled into the pressure campaign
China’s role is now unavoidable. It needs Gulf energy flows, buys large volumes of Iranian oil, and has tried to avoid being publicly folded into Washington’s Iran strategy. But Trump’s sanctions comment creates a more direct question: whether Beijing can trade quiet pressure on Tehran for relief from U.S. penalties on Chinese buyers.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had received messages from Washington indicating a willingness to continue talks. He also said Iran would welcome Chinese input, while warning that Tehran does not trust the United States after previous talks were followed by airstrikes, Reuters reported.
Oil prices rose about 3% to around $109 a barrel Friday as markets reacted to the lack of progress, according to Reuters. That price pressure gives China, the world’s largest importer of crude, a powerful incentive to keep Hormuz open even if Beijing avoids endorsing Trump’s version of events.
Why this is a new phase
The crisis has already moved through military strikes, shipping seizures, stalled nuclear talks, and competing claims over who controls Hormuz. The new development is that U.S. sanctions on Chinese buyers of Iranian oil may now be part of the diplomatic equation.
If Trump uses sanctions relief to encourage Chinese pressure, Beijing could become a quiet broker in the Hormuz fight. If China refuses to engage, Washington may have fewer nonmilitary tools left and the strait could remain a dangerous bottleneck for global energy.
For now, the gap is clear: Trump says Xi agrees Iran must reopen Hormuz, while China is publicly blaming the war itself and avoiding any explicit promise to lean on Tehran.
Sources: Reuters via U.S. News & World Report; Associated Press via PBS NewsHour.