Important - Iran Races to Sell Oil Stored in China @WSJ 

If Iran were to sell the entire stockpile at today’s prices, that value would be over $2 billion. Iran could earn up to $1 billion, the people said. Tehran owes China around $1 billion in storage fees, the people said.

Iran has shipped nearly 3 million barrels of oil from a storage site in China, people familiar with the matter said, in a bid to raise funds that could be used to shore up Iran’s allied militia groups in the Middle East.

The oil is from a stockpile of at least 25 million barrels that Iran sent to China in late 2018, when it feared the imposition of new sanctions by the first Trump administration would prevent the country from exporting oil, those people said.

China gave its approval for the drawdown and shipments last month following talks in late November and December with Iranian officials, the people said. It isn’t the first time Iran has sought to draw down and sell the oil, the people said, but Beijing hadn’t previously given the greenlight.

The additional oil revenue comes at a crucial time for Iran, as it tries to support its allied militias in the region, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which have been battered in conflicts with Israel. The fall of the Assad regime came as another blow, choking off the land route that Iran used to supply Hezbollah with cash and weapons. Iran, meanwhile, is facing high inflation and sluggish growth.

Trump’s transition team has said he would return to his maximum pressure campaign once he takes office Jan. 20. China, as the largest buyer of Iranian oil, could be critical to that effort. Trump might have to decide what he wants to give priority to in his relationship with Beijing, given his demands on trade and other issues.

U.S. officials have sought to prevent Iran from shipping the oil, by pressing China and other countries not to participate and imposing sanctions on vessels that it believed could help transport the oil. U.S. officials specifically raised concerns about the money flowing to the IRGC in its contacts with Beijing, one of the people said.