WASHINGTON, May 02 (Agencies): The United States (US) imposed sanctions on Friday on a Chinese oil terminal as part of a slew of new measures on Iran, as it warned of repercussions for ships paying "tolls" demanded by Tehran.
The new measures come amid a standstill in diplomacy after Trump halted US-Israeli attacks against Iran, and were announced just two weeks before Trump visits China, a key customer for Iran's oil.
The United States since President Donald Trump's first term has unilaterally sought to stop all other countries from buying oil from Iran, whose ruling clerics are sworn foes of Israel and the United States.
The State Department said the United States was imposing sanctions on Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd., which it said has imported "tens of millions of barrels" of Iranian crude oil, helping Iran generate billions of dollars.
"So long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its sanctions-evading partners accountable," the State Department said.
The sanctions will criminalize any transactions involving the United States through the terminal operator, part of the major maritime hub of Qingdao on the Yellow Sea.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Friday the US Navy was acting "like pirates" as he described an operation seizing a ship amid the tit-for-tat American blockade of Iranian ports.
"We... land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It's a very profitable business," Trump said at a rally in Florida.
"We're like pirates," he added to cheers from the crowd. "We're sort of like pirates. But we're not playing games."
14 Iranian soldiers killed
in demining operation
Fourteen soldiers were killed on Friday during operations to defuse unexploded ordnance in Iran's northwestern Zanjan province, local media reported.
"Following enemy airstrikes using cluster bombs and aerial mines, parts of Zanjan province, including about 1,200 hectares of agricultural land, were contaminated by bombs," Fars news agency reported, citing the country's powerful Revolutionary Guards.
12 killed in Israeli strikes
in Lebanon
Lebanon's health ministry said 12 people were killed on Friday in Israeli strikes in the south, including in a town where Israel's army had issued an evacuation order despite a ceasefire.
The strikes in Habboush killed eight people, including a child and two women, and wounded 21 others, the ministry said, raising an earlier toll.
Other strikes in Zrariyeh killed four people, two of them women, and wounded four more, it said.
Earlier, a planned drawdown of 5,000 US troops from Germany was expected, but should spur Europeans to strengthen their own defences, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, after Washington's latest salvo against transatlantic ties.
The Pentagon announced the drawdown from Germany, its largest European base, on Friday, as a rift over the Iran war and tariff tensions place further strain on relations between the US and Europe.
Trump called for a reduced military presence in Germany as far back as his first term and has repeatedly urged Europe to take responsibility for its defence. However, he stepped up the threat earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has questioned Washington's exit strategy in the Middle East.
Pistorius said the partial withdrawal would affect a current US presence of almost 40,000 soldiers stationed in Germany.
