TEHRAN — China’s Foreign Ministry has announced that Beijing opposes US sanctions against Iran, including sanctions targeting Iranian airlines.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that Beijing opposes unilateral sanctions against Iran, describing them as illegal.

“We oppose the continued imposition of unilateral sanctions that are illegal and lack a basis in international law or authorization from the UN Security Council,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Jiakun stressed that Beijing also opposes what it described as illegal US sanctions against Iranian airlines.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Monday that all Iranian airlines would suspend their operations starting September 23.

Bessent attributed the claim to the threat of secondary sanctions against aviation service providers that serve Iranian airlines.

In an interview with CNBC, the US Treasury secretary said Chinese officials were “heavily involved” in Washington’s campaign of economic pressure against Iran.

Meanwhile, at a UN Security Council meeting last Wednesday, a US-drafted resolution aimed at politically motivated efforts to revive the mandate of the “Panel of Experts” of the 1737 Committee failed to pass.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said the US draft resolution, which sought to revive the mandate of the “Panel of Experts” of the 1737 Committee, was not adopted at the Security Council meeting.

Russia and China once again firmly defended the UN Charter, international law and the integrity of the Security Council, preventing another desperate attempt by the United States and its allies to exploit the council in pursuit of their political objectives.