US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he expects to hold talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend over Beijing's financial relationship with Iran.
The dialogue comes before a summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.
With the US-Iran war now in its seventh month, Washington has been seeking to rally global support for its latest sanctions, aimed at severing Iran's financial lifelines and bringing the regime to the negotiating table, as diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remain stalled.
“We have had some very good private discussions, and I look forward to those continuing this weekend when I meet my Chinese counterpart ... and I'm sure it will continue during President Xi's state visit,” Mr Bessent told legislators during his annual testimony on Capitol Hill.
He did not specify the date or location of the meeting, and Beijing has not yet confirmed the date of the visit.
The US announced last month that it was broadening secondary sanctions, aimed at businesses and countries that continue to carry out transactions with Iran.
The Treasury Department has warned that companies doing business with Tehran risk being cut off from the dollar-based global financial system.
While the US has introduced measures against China's “teapot refineries”, which purchase Iranian crude at a steep discount, it has so far not taken what is considered to be a more escalatory measure: taking aim at Chinese financial institutions.
China was Iran's trading partner in 2025. Beijing previously said it would “take all necessary measures to safeguard its own interests firmly”.
The EU said during the G20 finance gathering in North Carolina earlier this month that it backed the new US sanctions campaign against Iran, adding the bloc remained ready to take additional action.
The UAE had announced before Mr Bessent's “Operation Economic Outcast” programme that it was suspending its trade and financial transactions with Iran because of the threat Iran poses to the region.
“I think that we have seen some very forward-facing statements from the UAE,” Mr Bessent said during a question-and-answer portion of his testimony.
He also said a Treasury official “was just there and had a very good discussion with all the members of their financial system”. The Treasury Department did not immediately provide additional details when contacted by The National.
His comments come a day after the Treasury Department targeted Russia's second-largest financial institution, VTB Bank, for moving billions of dollars in Iranian assets. VTB had already been placed under heavy sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US Treasury has also targeted a Turkish investment bank and its subsidiaries, as well as a Banque Misr branch in the UAE. The UAE Central Bank said on August 30 that it would conduct a “special and urgent examination” into the branches' activities.
