Foreign Affairs

Trump’s Blockade Has Halted New Iranian Crude Shipments, Ship Trackers Say

Oil tanker, photo not from story (Jujovar2010 via Wikimedia Commons)

Iran stopped loading crude oil for shipment in late August as the U.S. blockade continued, according to ship tracking firm Kpler.

Kpler recorded no Iranian crude departures in September, the first such month since its tracking began in 2013, according to the firm’s analysis.

For tankers carrying Iranian crude, the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) reported no successful exits from the Gulf of Oman without U.S. enforcement action since July 12. The group published its findings Oct. 16.

“The blockade is doing what years of sanctions never managed: it has physically stopped Iranian crude from leaving the Gulf,” Claire Jungman, director of maritime risk and intelligence at tracking firm Vortexa, said, according to Reuters.

Iran’s primary crude terminals on Kharg Island “have remained empty for weeks,” Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing its review of vessel-tracking records and satellite images from the European Union.

Some Iranian fuel shipments have continued during the blockade, Reuters reported Oct. 16. The outlet cited UANI data showing that at least eight vessels transported Iranian liquefied petroleum gas out of the Gulf of Oman after mid-July.

Myanmar also received a tanker shipment of Iranian jet fuel in September, Reuters reported, citing satellite imagery and analysis from maritime intelligence firm SynMax.

U.S. forces assess vessels individually, a military official told Reuters. The official cautioned against treating a ship’s passage as proof that it had evaded the blockade.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that it had “nothing further at this time.” The White House did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

CENTCOM said in an Oct. 16 fact sheet posted on X that the pressure on Iran’s economy means it “can’t finance proxy militias, criminal networks and attacks against America and our allies.”

The command resumed its blockade of ships entering and leaving Iranian ports July 14, after a first round from April 13 to June 18, the command said in a release.

CENTCOM forces had redirected 138 commercial vessels to enforce the blockade as of Oct. 17, the command said on X.