US Blockade Bottles Up Dozens of Iranian Tankers, Nonprofit Says
United Against Nuclear Iran said in a shipping update on Oct. 5 that at least 50 tankers carrying Iranian oil remain backed up near Iran's coast, broadly unchanged from two months ago, mostly carrying crude, petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas. The group said 20 Iran-flagged vessels are off Sri Lanka and one is off Oman, while empty vessels are loitering at anchorages across the Indo-Pacific rather than returning to Iranian ports. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran would have no oil on the water this week, and preliminary vessel-tracking estimates compiled by Bloomberg showed Iran loaded no crude oil onto tankers in September.
Why it matters: The reported halt in Iranian crude loadings and the backlog of laden tankers bear directly on the briefing's theme of energy security.