Both Iran & the U.S have given each other the opportunity & reasons to turn their cold war into a hot one. If such a scenario happened as suggested in the article & Iran became the exclusive supplier of oil to China & if the U.S/Saudia Arabia wanted to keep oil prices high, then first targets bombed after the next aggressive move by Iran would be Irans oil terminals & oil processing facilities. The U.S fighting back in the trade war with China will abruptly end as soon as Trump leaves office. It would be silly for China to put their eggs in Irans basket considering the basket can justifiably be blown up by the US, the UK or Isereal at a drop of a hat.
I think a lot of nations are getting sick of the USA telling them who they can buy what from. Oil is a world commodity. If China or anyone else can get a good deal on the price why not buy it from Iran? The free market champs should be howling about this.
Back during the Carter presidency there was an embargo on Iranian oil. When it was over investigation revealed Israel had been secretly buying Iranian oil which surprised no commodity trader, least of all Marc Rich and Glencore. Hell John Fredricksen of Frontline and Seadrill fame made his fortune running oil for Iran. He was the Ayatollah’s lifeline.