Iran ghost ships smuggle $1bn of oil through Strait of Hormuz as Trump blockade collapses | World | News
Iran has reportedly smuggled nearly $1bn worth of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz despite US blockade in the vital trading route. According to the reports, around 34 Iranian oil tankers have managed to bypass the blockade — with 19 ships sailing out of the Persian Gulf past US naval forces and another 15 entering from the Arabian Sea toward Iran.
Of these, six tankers were reportedly carrying smuggled Iranian crude amounting to 10.7 million barrels, which is estimated to generate roughly $910 million in revenue for the Iranian government, reports Financial Times.
It comes as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz and moved them into Iranian waters. Iranian media also report that a third vessel was targeted by the IRGC and is now “disabled” off the country’s coast.
The incidents followed earlier claims from a maritime agency that at least two container ships had come under gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The ships were allegedly operating without proper authorization, repeatedly violating regulations, and manipulating navigation systems, thereby endangering maritime safety while attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz covertly,” the IRGC said in a statement carried on Iran’s state-run television (IRIB), adding that the vessels were intercepted and were “stopped in line with what was described as protecting Iran’s national rights.”
Iranian media said that a third vessel, a Greek-owned ship, was also reportedly targeted by the IRGC and is “now disabled off Iran’s coast.”
On Tuesday, the US President said that he would prolong the ceasefire while keeping the US naval blockade on Iranian ports in place, using it as leverage to push Iran to reopen the key waterway.
As news emerged that three container ships had reportedly come under Iranian gunfire, oil prices climbed, with Brent crude rising to $99.21 a barrel.
In the US petrol prices have surged past $4 per gallon, and polling indicates that public opinion is increasingly turning against Trump’s war.
