Iran Keeps Its Own Ships Moving Through Hormuz Even as Renewed Fighting Halts Everyone Else's

Even as renewed fighting between the US and Iran has slowed overall traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s own ships, including several under US sanctions, have continued moving oil and goods through the waterway largely unimpeded.

While renewed fighting between the US and Iran has brought most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill this week, Iran’s own vessels are moving through largely unaffected. Since a preliminary peace deal was signed in June, Iran has taken advantage of the lifted US blockade to speed up the movement of oil and goods in and out of its ports. That deal also scaled back enforcement against what’s known as Iran’s shadow fleet, ships that have quietly helped Tehran get around American sanctions for years.

Kpler, a firm that tracks commercial ships using satellite imagery and positioning data, found that over the last three days, even as fighting has slowed overall traffic through the strait, more than a third of the 101 vessels that passed through used a route that runs close to the Iranian coastline. Most of those ships were either delivering goods into Iran or hauling its oil out to buyers around the world, as per a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Since the US lifted its blockade on June 18, Kpler estimates that more than 34 million barrels of Iranian crude have moved through the Strait of Hormuz.

READ MORE: Trump’s Iran Deal: How Paragraph 5 Has Triggered a Strait of Hormuz Dispute

Ship trackers say that growing uncertainty over safety has been a major factor behind the overall slowdown in traffic.

President Trump addressed the situation in a social media post the same day, saying that Iran had requested continued talks and that the US had agreed, while also making clear that the ceasefire between the two countries is no longer in effect.