Financial Times: 34 Iran-linked Tankers Slip Past US Hormuz Blockade

• Trump says Iran collapsing over America’s blockage of ports

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

At least 34 tankers with links to Iran have transited past the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, depite a blockade by the United States, a Financial Times report said yesterday.

However, President Donald Trump claimed that America ‘totally controls’ the Strait of Hormuz, that the blockade strategy had been a ‘tremendous success’ and that the embargo would not be lifted until a “final deal” with Iran was reached.

On April 13, the US imposed a blockade that was supposed to ‘completely halt’ economic trade going in and out of Iran by sea and those vessels carrying goods that could be used by Iran in the war against the US and Israel.

So far, only one container ship in the Gulf of Oman has been detained by US forces and one sanctioned tanker boarded in the Indo-Pacific. The US Central Command said on Tuesday that the American forces have “directed 28 vessels to turn around or return to port” since the start of the blockade.

But of the 34 ships that have circumvented the blockade, at least 19 are tankers linked to Iran that have exited the Gulf. The other 15 have entered the Gulf from the Arabian Sea, heading towards Iran, the report said.

Among the vessels that left, at least six were confirmed to be transporting Iranian crude oil, collectively carrying approximately 10.7 million barrels. Given that Iranian oil generally trades at a discount to Brent crude because of international sanctions, a conservative estimate of $10 per barrel below market price would place the total revenue from these shipments at roughly $910 million.

One of the vessels, Dorena, which is an Iranian-flagged supertanker, transited past the US blockade after turning off the transponder, which is a device that signals location and identity, the report added.

According to Vortexa, which provides real-time data on global waterborne oil and gas movements, the laden vessel left Iranian waters on April 17, after which two other oil tankers sailed past on April 20.

The Dorena then engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer of oil with another sanctioned vessel off the coast of Malaysia to mask the origin of oil.

Other sanctioned tankers have entered the Gulf from the Gulf of Oman, such as Murlikishan and Alicia, which were sanctioned by the US last year. These two ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on April 14 and sailed to the norther end of the Gulf.

On April 18, Iran announced the control of the Strait of Hormuz has “reverted to its previous state” amid the continuing US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

In a post on X, the Iranian Navy said that all transits require permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and that civilian vessels are permitted to go only through Iran’s designated route and that military vessels are still prohibited from passing through.

Meanwhile, Trump claimed Wednesday that Iran was “collapsing financially” over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked three ships in the vital waterway that is blockaded by both Washington and Tehran.

Trump’s comments came hours after he announced he was indefinitely extending the two-week ceasefire with Iran, which had been conditioned on Iran lifting its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran last week briefly lifted its blockade following the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, but reversed course after the US said it would maintain the blockade it had imposed on Iran-linked shipping on April 13, five days into the truce.

“Iran is collapsing financially! They want the Strait of Hormuz opened immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Islamic Republic is “starving for cash” and its military and police were “complaining that they are not getting paid,” he claimed.

According to Trump, Iran was “losing 500 million dollars a day” because the US closure was preventing Tehran from taxing ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“They want it open so they can make $500 Million a day,” Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post early Wednesday. Trump suggested the US blockade was crucial as leverage in negotiations with Iran, saying that if he agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, “There can never be a deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their country, their leaders included!”

Also, Secretary of US Treasury, Scott Bessent, said on X that the US blockade “directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines” by constraining maritime trade.

“Kharg Island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in,” said Bessent, referring to the Iranian shipping hub that the US has targeted during the war with Iran and through which 90 percent of Tehran’s oil exports pass.

In line with previous statements about economic pressure efforts, Bessent also said Iranian funds will remain frozen and any person or vessel facilitating the flow of funds to Iran will risk US sanctions.