China rejects US sanctions pressure on Iranian airlines

China on Tuesday condemned unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, as Washington escalated pressure on Iran's civil aviation sector ahead of a scheduled summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China "consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law or authorisation from the UN Security Council", reports The Strait Times.

Beijing, a major economic partner and diplomatic ally of Tehran, rejected Washington's escalating pressure campaign against Iran's civil aviation.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview that "all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world" in a matter of days because of heavy US sanctions.

The US Treasury in September imposed sanctions targeting all remaining Iranian airlines that had not previously been penalised, as well as entities in third countries supporting Iran's aviation sector.

Bessent warned foreign operators that providing fuel, landing services or ticket sales to Iranian aircraft would cause them to be "knocked out of the dollar system".

He described the broader US strategy as an "economic D-Day" aimed at completely cutting off Tehran's access to financial resources.

The dispute over Iranian aviation comes as the United States and Iran remain in an active military conflict that began in late February 2026 after US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader and senior military officials.

Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime bottleneck for international energy supplies, causing global oil prices to surge.

The US-China dispute over Iran also comes days before Trump and Xi are scheduled to begin a summit on 24 September.

Before the announcement, Bessent met Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng for high-level economic negotiations intended to lay the groundwork for the presidential summit.