RELATED:Analysis: Can EU oil sanctions create a turning point in Iran?Obama: US with consult with China, Russia on Iran"Imposing sanctions on a Chinese company based on a domestic (US) law is totally unreasonable, and does not conform to the spirit or content of UN Security Council resolutions about the Iran nuclear issue," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement issued on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn) late on Saturday."China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and adamant opposition," said Liu.The Obama administration said its sanctions against the Chinese company and two other firms are part of a broadening effort to target Iran's energy sector and press Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions, which Western governments say appear aimed at developing the means to make atomic weapons.Iran says its nuclear activities are legitimate and entirely for peaceful ends.The US sanctions threat is a worry for China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, followed by India and Japan. Only Saudi Arabia and Angola sell more crude than Iran to China.As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China can veto resolutions mandating sanctions. But Beijing has voted for them, while working to ensure its energy ties are not threatened.China has, however, also long criticized the United States and EU for imposing separate, unilateral sanctions on Iran and said they should take no steps reaching beyond the UN resolutions.
China: US sanctions for Iran ties 'unreasonable'
Chinese Foreign Ministry criticizes sanctions on company selling refined petroleum products to Tehran as "unreasonable"
RELATED:Analysis: Can EU oil sanctions create a turning point in Iran?Obama: US with consult with China, Russia on Iran"Imposing sanctions on a Chinese company based on a domestic (US) law is totally unreasonable, and does not conform to the spirit or content of UN Security Council resolutions about the Iran nuclear issue," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement issued on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn) late on Saturday."China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and adamant opposition," said Liu.The Obama administration said its sanctions against the Chinese company and two other firms are part of a broadening effort to target Iran's energy sector and press Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions, which Western governments say appear aimed at developing the means to make atomic weapons.Iran says its nuclear activities are legitimate and entirely for peaceful ends.The US sanctions threat is a worry for China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, followed by India and Japan. Only Saudi Arabia and Angola sell more crude than Iran to China.As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China can veto resolutions mandating sanctions. But Beijing has voted for them, while working to ensure its energy ties are not threatened.China has, however, also long criticized the United States and EU for imposing separate, unilateral sanctions on Iran and said they should take no steps reaching beyond the UN resolutions.