Iranian state television reported Wednesday that at least three oil tankers carrying 5 million barrels of crude oil have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours, according to Israeli journalists citing the broadcast. The claim comes amid an ongoing U.S. naval blockade and follows weeks of competing assertions by Iranian and American officials about control over the strategic waterway.
Iranian state television broadcast an announcement Wednesday afternoon claiming that three oil tankers, together carrying 5 million barrels of crude oil, have transited the Strait of Hormuz in the past several hours. The report was picked up by Israeli journalists Moriah Asraf and Doron Kadosh (N13 / Army Radio), who cited the broadcast directly. No independent confirmation of the transit has been reported.
The claim follows a series of conflicting statements from Tehran and Washington over access to the strait. As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday, Iranian media have asserted that tankers and cargo ships were breaching the U.S. naval blockade. The United States, through both President Trump and the Energy Secretary, has maintained that no Iranian crude is leaving the strait and disclosed earlier this month a covert operation that extracted millions of barrels without Iranian awareness.
It remains unclear whether the reported tanker movement reflects an actual breakthrough in the blockade or is part of Tehran's messaging campaign. No satellite tracking data or independent vessel-tracking confirmation has been published to corroborate the Iranian broadcast.
3 developments
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- DevelopingIranian national oil company says 25 million barrels of oil crossed blockade line
- StrongIranian media reports three tankers, two cargo ships en route to Iran, suggesting blockade may be eroding
Source and signal
- Open-source intake