No oil tankers linked to Iran have transited the Strait of Hormuz in the past three days, and no very large crude carriers bearing Iranian crude have been detected since mid-July, according to data compiled by Kpler, extending a near-total freeze on Iranian seaborne exports after shipping collapsed over the weekend.
The shipping blackout follows a warning from Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, that Tehran would block every drop of oil from the strait and the wider Gulf if neighbouring states cooperate with US sanctions. Rezaei claimed Iran had still shipped roughly 70 million barrels over the preceding two months.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington will unveil what he called the 'toughest sanctions in history' on Iran on Monday, escalating an economic campaign President Donald Trump has described as 'isolation on an unprecedented scale' since hostilities began on February 28.