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U.S. Seeking to Exempt China from Iran Sanctions
(Washington Post) John Pomfret and Colum Lynch - The Obama administration is pushing to carve out an exemption for China and other permanent members of the UN Security Council from pending legislation that would tighten sanctions on companies doing business in Iran, administration and congressional sources said. The administration's plan appears to be part of a broader strategy to prod Beijing to vote for a new sanctions resolution. But the administration's lobbying for a Chinese exemption has angered several allies, most notably South Korea and Japan, which would not be exempted under the administration's plan. One foreign official complained that the administration's efforts would encourage China to water down UN sanctions on Iran as much as possible and then push Chinese firms to invest more in Iran's oil and gas sector.