After months of disruption, oil exports from Iran finally picked up after Tehran and Washington reached a peace deal. According to shipping data cited by Bloomberg a wave of 11 tankers carrying 20 million barrels of crude left the Gulf of Oman port. The vessels had previously been unable to sail into the Indian Ocean due to a US military blockade aimed at limiting Iran’s access to oil revenues. Most of the country's oil exports are shipped to China. The rise in exports has come alongside Iran’s continued efforts to regulate maritime movement through the Strait of Hormuz. The Persian Gulf State Authority, which oversees transit operations, has published guidance requiring vessels to follow designated routes and setting out how tolls could be imposed on ships passing through the waterway. Chabahar has emerged as the most visible outlet for increased energy shipments since the memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday. The port, located near Iran’s border with Pakistan and outside the Persian Gulf, has seen the clearest evidence of additional oil flows despite expectations that the agreement would ease the movement of oil and gas across the wider region. However, uncertainty remains over the longer-term outlook. Negotiations on a permanent peace agreement between the United States and Iran, scheduled to begin in Switzerland on Friday, have been delayed. The postponement came after overnight clashes involving Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. It remains unclear whether the delay will have any effect on shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. Traffic through the region appeared lighter on Friday morning. No non-Iranian tankers were observed heading out of the Persian Gulf, compared with Thursday when vessels carrying nearly 10 million barrels were either transiting or had already exited the Strait of Hormuz. The supertanker Tenzan, carrying a full cargo, was later spotted in the Gulf of Oman after apparently crossing the strait overnight. Additional cargo movements may become apparent in the days ahead. Ships have increasingly been travelling through Hormuz with their transponders switched off, often following routes close to Oman’s coastline.
After months of disruption, oil exports from Iran finally picked up after Tehran and Washington reached a peace deal. According to shipping data cited by Bloomberg a wave of 11 tankers carrying 20 million barrels of crude left the Gulf of Oman port. The vessels had previously bee…
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.