U.S. Naval Blockade Begins April 13, Iran Condemns Ship Seizures as Piracy

The United States naval blockade on Iran’s ports began on April 13 as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to pressure Iran to agree to its terms for a peace deal, and Tehran condemned the move as illegal while describing the US seizure of ships around its ports as an act of “piracy”.

“Iran’s crude oil exports fell to their lowest level in at least six years in May, as a United States naval blockade squeezes Tehran’s most important source of income amid a fragile ceasefire between the two nations”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz account for about 80 percent of total Iranian exports, and that Kpler data showed Iranian crude oil and condensate exports fell from close to 2 million barrels per day to below 300,000bpd in May.

Al Jazeera

The same Al Jazeera report said that using a conservative price estimate of $90 a barrel, exports of 300,000bpd would generate about $27m in revenue each day, or roughly $837m over the course of May.

Al Jazeera also said that in March, when exports averaged 1.84 million bpd, Iran was earning an estimated $165.6m a day, or about $5.13bn over the month, and that in April exports averaged 1.34 million bpd, generating about $120.6m a day, or roughly $3.62bn during the month.

On his Truth Social platform last Tuesday evening, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote, "Iran is collapsing financially! They want to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately, starving for cash! They are losing $500 million a day."

Al Jazeera reported that since the start of the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran, U.S. forces boarded three Iranian ships and redirected at least 33 vessels in the open sea carrying shipments from Iran or to Iran, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

BBC

Al Jazeera said that ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply, with traffic down by more than 96% from normal levels, after peaking at 26 transits on April 18 and then dropping to its lowest level since the war began.

The report also stated that UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the security firm Vanguard Tech recorded seven attacks or incidents since last Saturday, and that 38 incidents have been recorded by UKMTO and Vanguard or by the International Maritime Organization since the start of the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran.

Al Jazeera said Iran is increasingly being forced to store the crude that it cannot sell, quoting energy policy researcher and consultant Marc Ayoub saying, "Iran is strategically using the storage capacity it has left."

The same Al Jazeera report said that Kpler estimated about 147 million barrels of Iranian crude and condensate are currently being held in floating storage, with roughly 67 million barrels stranded inside the Gulf and Gulf of Oman, unable to move beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

Al Jazeera also reported that Kpler told it the data may not capture all the Iranian oil reaching buyers because some cargoes are being transferred between vessels near Malaysia after leaving Iranian waters.

In parallel, Winn FM said the blockade is squeezing Tehran’s most important source of income amid a fragile ceasefire between the two nations, and that the disruption sent global energy prices soaring and severely curtailed exports from chief Gulf producers including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.