Iran’s army servicemen with the national flag attend the opening ceremony of the airborne platoon competition, part of the International Army Games 2017, in Guangshui, Hubei province, China, July 30, 2017. Photo: China Daily via REUTERS.

At this stage, no progress has been made in the negotiations between Iran and the international community over its nuclear program. The combination of this negotiating standoff, together with Iran’s continued progress toward the production of weapons-grade uranium, has drawn stark warnings from Israeli political and military leaders.

If these developments concern you, there is a simple but important act that each of us as individual investors can take: Don’t invest in China.

An important factor that explains Iran’s intransigence in the current negotiations is that the Islamic Republic is being economically empowered by China. It turns out that China buys more Iranian oil than anyone else in the international community, which has helped to alleviate the impact of economic sanctions on Iran.

Much of Iran’s oil trade with China is done surreptitiously in order to avoid US sanctions and the attention of the international community. My non-partisan advocacy group, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), tracks this trade through its Iran Tanker Tracker project.

According to our data, of the one million barrels of oil exported by Iran in November 2021, more than 70% of these exports were bought by China.

In an op-ed written by Claire Jungman and Daniel Roth of UANI, the authors explained, “China is one of the few countries willing to engage with the Iranian regime in a complex shell game of tanker ships moving across the world’s oceans as Iran moves its oil, gas and petrochemical products on its fleet — the second-largest state-owned fleet in the world — and on various rogue vessels.”

At this point, we don’t know what will happen during the current nuclear talks. However, one thing is certain: Even if Iran returns to the terms of the previous nuclear deal (JCPOA), Tehran will continue to be the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Through its financial and military support for Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran will continue to threaten Israeli civilians, as well as civilians across the world. Among its many flaws, the JCPOA did not address Iran’s support for terrorism.

Just as many American states have enacted divestment laws that prohibit their massive public pension funds from investment in companies that do business in Iran’s energy sector, individual investors can do the same, and refrain from investing in China.

At the top of this list should be avoiding investments in Chinese oil companies. The State of Florida provides a list of “Prohibited Investments” for its state pension funds that includes many Chinese companies that are active in Iran’s energy sector. Beyond investments in individual companies, investors should also beware of investing in “International Mutual Funds” that may also include many Chinese companies.

For those who care about peace and human rights, there are a host of other reasons not to invest in China. Among them are China’s persecution of its Muslim minority, its constant threats to Taiwan, and the widespread abuse of the human rights of its own citizens. China’s purchase of Iranian oil should be added to this list of concerns.

In a hearing in October, US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said, “I’m deeply concerned that China is continuing to buy oil in significant quantities from [the] Iranians, both subverting international sanctions and impacting the oil market. I’m disappointed that the United States and the international community do not seem to be holding China accountable for these violations.”

Over the past year, Israeli political and military leaders have repeatedly warned that they will not stand silently by as Iran works toward the development of nuclear weapons. On December 27, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, “Of course, we prefer to act in international cooperation, but if necessary, we will act alone. We will defend ourselves by ourselves.”

Yet the burden of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran should not fall entirely on the shoulders of Israel. So long as Iran continues to defy the international community through its pursuit of nuclear weapons and support for terrorism, investors must recognize they have the power to send a message to China: “You will not use our hard-earned dollars to do business with Iran.”

Bob Feferman is Outreach Coordinator for the non-partisan policy organization, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)