TEHRAN – Hong Kong has dismissed U.S. threats of penalty for receiving an oil vessel which carries Iranian oil to the autonomous city, Sputnik reported on Thursday.

“The normal energy dealings between Iran and the international community, including China, that is within the framework of international laws, are reasonable, lawful, and should be respected and protected,” the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

“Certain countries may impose unilateral sanctions against certain places on the basis of their own considerations. Those sanctions are outside the scope of the UN Security Council sanctions” implemented by Hong Kong, the statement reads.

As reported by the Gulf News, the oil tanker, called Pacific Bravo, is owned by China’s Bank of Kunlun, according to a senior U.S. official.

A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Washington wants to put China and the autonomous city on notice that it will aggressively and consistently enforce anti-Iranian sanctions.

Since Trump withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal in November, the U.S. government and its allies have been putting all their efforts together to isolate Iran and make the Islamic country bend under economic pressure and doing so, cutting Iran’s energy exports has been Trump’s top agenda.

In May 2018, Donald Trump officially withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

Later in April 2019, The Trump administration announced that it would no longer extend the waivers for Iranian oil buyers, namely China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece which allowed them to ship in limited amounts of oil from the country.

Trump asked all Iranian buyers to stop their business associations with the Islamic Republic otherwise face “harsh penalties”.

EF/MA