The article is mostly garbage.
The rail line is part of a larger development initiative China has with connecting Europe with China and has zero to do with trade with Iran. The Washington Post unfortunately has taken a position that it would rather spin the news than report it accurately. China is not going to suspend construction of the line because one country has a temporary political issue with the rest of the world and personally, I think that is the right position to take as why should the other countries along the rail line suffer.
China fully supports the sanctions with Iran and so does Russia. Both will act to enforce them because neither country wants to see Iran with a Nuke. Further, Iran is particularly vunerable right now beause it's currency has taken a nose dive since the Obama administration left office and took their financial life line to Iran with them. If you read the business news it is why large companies like Boeing and Airbus have stated publicly they have already written down or written off Iranian contracts as they are likely to be cancelled due to the currency nosedive. The Russians and Chinese are in the same position and so are the Europeans though the Europeans are complaining the most right now.
China is an independent, sovereign nation. Short of going to war with them we can't make them do anything they don't want to do, or make them not do anything they want to do, and I do mean anything. And we're not going to war with them. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.
We have our interests, they have theirs. As Lord Palmerston said a long time ago...
"There are no permanent allies, there are no permanent enemies. There are only permanent interests."
At least the Chinese have figured out it's a lot more fun making money than it is running around waving Mao's "Little Red Book" and screaming like banshees.
How many cars would 1,150 tons of sunflower seeds require?
I ask this because at 15 days worth of labor for the trip, more than just sunflower seeds must be making the journey.
The newspaper cited in your link itself cites a known Chinese propaganda source as it's source. Perhaps other types of cargo once destined for North Korea are now headed west?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/05/11/chinas-new-train-line-to-iran-sends-message-to-trump-well-keep-trading-anyway/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8db408b34037
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