A commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said thousands of ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran has not exported a single barrel of oil, العربية reported on Saturday.
The same reporting said CENTCOM redirected 105 vessels in operations in the Arabian Sea, part of a blockade on Iran.
According to العربية, the statement came as oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest level in six months, a figure reported separately by Asharq Bloomberg. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that CENTCOM announced one billion barrels of oil had crossed the strait, while Iran insisted on keeping the waterway closed.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow channel at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a large share of the world's seaborne crude normally moves. The contrasting accounts — record transit volumes alongside a halt in Iranian exports — point to shipping activity continuing even as pressure on Iran's own oil trade tightens.
What to watch next: whether the reported halt in Iranian crude exports holds, and whether transit volumes through the strait stay at the six-month highs cited in the coverage.
