Iran took advantage of the period of lifting the US blockade on its ports to accelerate its oil exports to China, achieving revenues estimated at between 5 and 6 billion dollars within one month, in a move that provided Tehran with an important economic margin to confront the pressures resulting from the re-imposition of the US blockade.
According to a report by journalist Tomer Almagor, published by the Israeli website “N12”, citing the “Wall Street Journal”, Iran sold about 70 million barrels of oil last month, after it rushed to send its tankers towards China immediately after US President Donald Trump lifted the blockade in mid-June.
The report explained that these revenues gave the Iranian regime an “economic breathing artery” and the ability to withstand for a longer period in the face of the American blockade that was reimposed last week, after the collapse of the memorandum of understanding to end the fighting between the United States and Iran.
The Wall Street Journal based its report on an analysis prepared by the United Against Nuclear Iran organization and experts in the energy sector, which showed that Tehran succeeded in exporting about 70 million barrels of oil via approximately 20 tankers within one month.
This number represents a significant increase compared to the small quantities that Iran was able to export during the period of the American blockade, which allowed it to achieve revenues ranging between 5 and 6 billion dollars.
The report indicated that the majority of Iranian oil was transported to the eastern coast of Malaysia, where it was transferred at sea through huge pipelines to other ships that continued on their way to China to complete sales.
This mechanism aimed to complicate the United States’ mission in tracking the movement of the Iranian oil industry and monitoring the destination of shipments, in light of Tehran’s heavy dependence on energy exports to finance its economy.
As a result of the sales operations carried out during the period of lifting the blockade, it is expected that billions of dollars will enter the Iranian treasury during the coming months, which may strengthen Tehran’s position vis-à-vis the United States and increase its ability to bear the repercussions of the blockade that Trump re-imposed last week.
“If the blockade had remained in place, the pressure would likely have begun to emerge already,” Charlie Brown, an analyst at United Against Nuclear Iran, told the Wall Street Journal.
He added that Iran “rapidly increased its oil exports, so it once again has a large margin of safety.”
The American blockade imposed on Iranian ports was lifted in June, as part of the memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the fighting between the United States and Iran, before Trump announced its re-imposition following the collapse of the agreement last week.
US ships currently deployed in the Arabian Sea are preventing ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports, in an attempt to strangle Tehran’s economy, which largely depends on oil exports.
Between lifting the blockade and returning it, Iran succeeded in converting a short window of time into a financial reserve worth billions of dollars, which may give it additional time to face renewed American pressure.
