US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in a meeting at the White House on Wednesday that the US would work to reduce Iran's oil exports to China, Axios reported, citing two US officials briefed on the matter.
"We agreed that we will apply maximum pressure against Iran, for example, regarding Iranian oil sales to China," Axios reported on Saturday, citing a senior US official, the Telegraph reports.
Asked about the report, China's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that "normal cooperation between countries carried out within the framework of international law is reasonable and legitimate, and should be respected and protected."
China accounts for more than 80% of Iran's oil exports. Any reduction in that trade means lower oil revenues for Iran.
US and Iranian diplomats held talks on Iran's nuclear program through Omani mediators last week in an attempt to revive diplomacy after the US president deployed a naval fleet to the region as the US military prepares for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran.
