Biden estimates that oil reserves are sufficient
The US president wants to get less oil from Iran
US President Joe Biden said in a memo to the US State Department on Friday that there are enough oil reserves for other countries to reduce their purchases in Iran.
The White House has to confirm every six months that there is enough oil worldwide to maintain the sanctions against Iran that were introduced in 2012 under the administration of Barack Obama.
Biden's statement comes ahead of a virtual meeting with China's President Xi Jinping on Monday, which is expected to be the most detailed meeting of the two politicians since Biden took office.
China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil and has bought an average of more than 500,000 barrels a day in the past three months.
Chinese purchases of Iranian crude oil have continued this year despite sanctions that, if enforced, would allow Washington to cut off those who violate the sanctions from the US economy.
The Biden government is currently not enforcing these sanctions in the run-up to upcoming negotiations with Iran to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that would allow the country to openly sell its oil again.
"Consistent with previous findings, there is sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran to enable a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petroleum products purchased from or through foreign financial institutions in Iran," said Biden in the memo.