Three Iranian tankers cross Us-iran blockade line in Gulf of Oman
Three Iranian tankers carrying crude oil crossed the us-iran blockade line in the Gulf of Oman after Donald Trump announced the “immediate removal” of the blockade of Iranian ports on Sunday. The ships — Diona, Hero II and Sonia I — are linked to the National Iranian Tanker Company and were carrying 3.8 million barrels of crude oil.
Hero II and Sonia I
Hero II and Sonia I left Iran’s Chabahar port on Tuesday and sailed past the blockade line into the Arabian Sea in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Diona began broadcasting its location just past the blockade line on Tuesday, and Windward Maritime Intelligence said that was the first time any of the three ships had broadcast since March.
Michelle Wiese Bockman, a senior analyst at Windward Maritime Intelligence, said: “This a sign that Iran is confident the blockade is over, even if the US has insisted it will be in place until Friday,”
US enforcement and Iranian exports
The three ships and the National Iranian Tanker Company have both been sanctioned by the US Treasury. US naval forces later said the blockade would remain in effect until the deal with Iran was signed, with the agreement expected in Switzerland on Friday.
The movement comes against a tighter export backdrop: the US blockade cut Iran’s crude exports to 260,000 barrels per day in May, less than a fifth of the 2025 average of 1.67 million barrels per day, according to Kpler. TankerTrackers.com said that if the ships reach their destinations, they will be Iran’s first oil exports for two months.
Other NITC tankers
Two other National Iranian Tanker Company crude oil tankers, Dan and Sinopa, began broadcasting their positions in the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia on Tuesday after not being seen on publicly available ship tracking platforms since early April. They appeared to be sailing towards Iran. Another crude oil tanker owned by the same company, Stream, was approaching the blockade line and appeared to be sailing towards Iran after circling off the Pakistani port of Karachi since 8 May.
The earlier interception of the sanctioned tanker Tifani, more than 10 days after it left the Gulf, shows the route can still draw a US response beyond the Gulf of Oman even as the latest tankers push forward.
If Diona, Hero II and Sonia I reach their destinations, the crossing will mark Iran’s first oil exports in two months and test whether the US keeps its blockade in place until the Swiss deal is signed on Friday.
