The U.S. naval blockade of Iran is still choking off the regime's oil revenue, but a Reuters exclusive published Friday shows Tehran has slipped a small number of fuel cargoes past it since mid-July.
An analysis of ship-tracking and satellite data by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) found that at least eight tankers carrying Iranian liquefied petroleum gas, about 4.1 million barrels in total, have left the Gulf of Oman since mid-July. One tanker carrying Iranian jet fuel reached Myanmar in September. Six of the eight gas tankers, and the jet-fuel tanker, are already under U.S. sanctions for moving Iranian petroleum.
According to the report, Iran hid the cargoes among a growing number of ship-to-ship transfers by other Gulf producers off Oman, near the towns of Shinas and Sohar. U.S. Central Command's blockade line runs across the Gulf of Oman near the Iran-Pakistan border.
The bigger picture favors Washington. Iranian crude exports have been at a virtual standstill in recent weeks, and most tankers loaded with Iranian products are being turned back. CENTCOM has called the blockade "ironclad."
"What we have seen passing is a handful of tankers carrying Iranian LPG, but the overwhelming majority of tankers laden with Iranian products have been redirected by US forces," said UANI analyst Jemima Shelley, who described the shipments as opportunistic rather than a new systematic trend.
The blockade was first imposed in April, lifted in June after a draft understanding with Tehran, and reimposed on July 14 when that deal collapsed. The new findings point to the narrow gaps U.S. forces and sanctions enforcers will now be watching.
Photo: Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, in Egypt, Sept. 8, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin Dunkleberger (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).
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