Washington has told China to stop exploiting the UN sanctions regime against Iran by taking advantage of opportunities left by departing European companies, Financial Times reported. Iran is China’s third largest oil supplier, while Beijing invests heavily in the Islamic republic’s energy fields and refineries. Robert Einhorn, US special advisor for non-proliferation and arms control, said a priority of his visit to Beijing later this month will be to persuade the country to pull out of Iran because of sanctions. "One concern that a number of countries expressed when approached to take measures against Iran is that ‘if we practice restraint, China will fill in behind, China will take advantage of our restraint’," Einhorn said. Even though Western companies have cut off gasoline imports to Iran, Beijing ships petrol to Iran and has also committed to help expand refinery capacity. Hossein Noghrehkar, a deputy oil minister, said last week that Tehran and Beijing were considering constructing seven refineries.
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