This came on the same day that Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social: "Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America. This Order is final and conclusive.”

China is Iran’s top trading partner, buying an estimated 90 percent of its oil exports, while roughly 12 percent of China’s oil imports came from Iran, although estimates are imprecise given that Iranian oil flows through a shadow fleet of disguised vessels and paid for through financial networks that avoid the traditional banking system.

Beijing denounced Trump’s 25% tariff on countries that do business with Tehran, but seems reluctant to offer more support.

Iran is descending into chaos as nationwide protests erupt across all 31 provinces, leaving hundreds dead and the country under near-total internet blackouts. As violence escalates, China has issued a sharp warning to the United States against what it calls “foreign interference,

Chinese, Russian, and Iranian warships have launched a week of naval drills off South Africa’s Cape Town coast, amid high geopolitical tensions over the United States’ intervention in Venezuela and its move to seize tankers carrying Venezuelan oil.

President Donald Trump has once again drawn his go-to diplomatic weapon — tariffs — to coerce the Iranian government to end its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

China, the world's largest crude importer, is the main buyer of oil from OPEC producer Iran, leaving Beijing uniquely exposed to any supply disruption fromconflict in the Middle East. Beijing, which is also the biggest buyer of oil from Venezuela and a top importer of oil from Russia,

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.