China gave its approval for the drawdown and shipments last month following talks in late November and December with Iranian officials, the people said. It isn’t the first time Iran has sought to draw down and sell the oil, the people said, but Beijing hadn’t previously given the greenlight.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said they weren’t aware of the situation but said that Beijing cooperates with all countries, including Iran, within the bounds of international law. China has opposed the U.S. “abuse of illegal and unreasonable unilateral sanctions,” the spokesperson said.

Iran’s U.N. mission in New York declined to comment. The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The additional oil revenue comes at a crucial time for Iran, as it tries to support its allied militias in the region, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which have been battered in conflicts with Israel. The fall of the Assad regime came as another blow, choking off the land route that Iran used to supply Hezbollah with cash and weapons. Iran, meanwhile, is facing high inflation and sluggish growth.

China’s decision to allow Iran to ship the oil could stoke tensions with Washington, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. In his first term, Trump moved aggressively to curtail Iranian oil sales.

Trump’s transition team has said he would return to his maximum pressure campaign once he takes office Jan. 20. China, as the largest buyer of Iranian oil, could be critical to that effort. Trump might have to decide what he wants to give priority to in his relationship with Beijing, given his demands on trade and other issues.

The oil that Iran stored in China in 2018 has been at two ports—in Dalian, east of Beijing, and Zhoushan, south of Shanghai, the people said. Two vessels—the Madestar and CH Billion—recently set sail for Dalian, the people said.

Madestar left the Dalian port in early January loaded with 2 million barrels of oil, and the CH Billion is believed to be still docked there, set to be loaded with 700,000 barrels, they said.

Madestar stopped transmitting its location and planned route under the AIS international signal system for three days in early January while it was in the waters off Dalian, the people said. During that time, it traveled to the port, they said. It then headed to waters off South Korea to transfer the oil to another ship, they said. CH Billion only transmitted its location data for a brief period on Jan. 6.

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