Starting in late June, about 20 Iranian tankers began arriving in the waters off the east coast of Malaysia, their hulls heavy with oil. The U.S. had lifted its blockade of Iranian ships about 10 days earlier, and Tehran was determined to get its pent-up oil supplies out of the country.
First came the Diona, then the Hero II and the Sonia 1. On July 13, the Stream arrived. The ultimate destination of the oil, analysts say, is China.
Iran took advantage of the roughly one-month period between mid-June and mid-July when the U.S. lifted its blockade on Iranian oil to ship out roughly 70 million barrels of oil, worth a total of $5 billion or $6 billion, according to independent estimates by United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group based in the U.S., and oil analysts. That gives the Iranian government a valuable buffer now that the U.S. has reimposed its blockade of Strait of Hormuz and choked Iranian exports once again.
To sell the oil, Iran appears to be sticking with its well-worn playbook aimed at evading the U.S. sanctions on the country. Iran sends its oil to an area known as the Eastern Outer Port Limits, outside the territorial waters of Malaysia, a rough midpoint between Iran and China.
There, the vessels carrying Iranian oil use giant hoses to transfer it at sea to other oil tankers. Typically the tankers receiving the oil will then head toward private refineries in China, known as teapot refineries, who buy the oil at a discount. The subterfuge makes it harder for the U.S. authorities to crack down on Iranian oil sales.
Analysts say that the recent surge in Iranian ships arriving in Asian waters in July means that Iran will likely receive billions in oil revenue in the months to come.
"If they had left the blockade on, the pinch would likely have hit about now," said Charlie Brown, a Singapore-based analyst with United Against Nuclear Iran. But once the blockade lifted, Iran "quickly surged more oil...so there is a big buffer again."
Iran moved fast to take advantage of the window. After the U.S. and Iran signed a temporary agreement on June 17 that withdrew the blockade, tankers laden with oil in Iran's eastern Chabahar port quickly sailed toward Asia. In the second half of June Iran exported about 50 million barrels of oil bound for eventual sale in China. That is roughly equal to a month of China-bound exports of Iranian oil before the war, according to United Against Nuclear Iran.
"Iran's economy is in its worst shape since the revolution, so every dollar of revenue matters," said Jonathan Panikoff, Middle East expert at the Atlantic Council. "The regime is likely to prioritize revenue for their own strategic purposes -- chief among them right now is fighting the U.S."
Write to Jon Emont at jonathan.emont@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 18, 2026 17:00 ET (21:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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