Renewed fighting this week between Iran and the U.S. has rocked shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz -- except for Tehran's own vessels.
Iran has been rushing oil and goods in and out of its ports since a preliminary peace deal signed in June lifted a U.S. blockade and dialed back enforcement actions against Tehran's so-called shadow fleet -- vessels that surreptitiously helped it evade American sanctions.
Over the past three days, even as renewed fighting has begun to limit traffic generally, more than a third of the 101 vessels that transited the strait used a lane that hugs the Iranian coast, according to Kpler, a company that uses satellite imagery and vessels' positional data to track commercial-ship movements. Most ships using the Iranian route bring goods into the country or take its oil out to world markets.
Overall, more than 34 million barrels of Iranian crude oil have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. lifted its blockade on June 18, according to Kpler.
The transits in the past three days include a number of ships that would previously have been at risk of being stopped:
-- A Benin-flagged tanker, sanctioned by the U.S. for shipping Tehran's oil,
loaded with two million barrels of Iranian crude.
-- Two Iranian containerships owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping
Lines, which is under sanctions for supplying Iran's nuclear and
ballistic missiles programs.
-- A Comoros-flagged cargo ship that had been investigated by the United
Nations in 2024 for possible Iranian arms smuggling to Yemen's Houthis.
Beyond Iranian shipping, a broader Hormuz shipping recovery has been stalled by exchanges of fire between the U.S. and Iran, including a round this week when Iran struck vessels using a Washington-backed route that hugs the coast of Oman. The uncertainty around safety has contributed to the slowdown in ship traffic, ship trackers said.
"The lifting of the U.S. blockade makes the deal more favorable to Iran, " said Saeid Golkar, an Iran expert who teaches at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "Iran can export its oil unimpeded while it attacks its neighbors' shipments."
Qatari negotiators were in Iran on Friday to convince it to stop the attacks and open the strait.
President Trump said Friday in a social-media post: "The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!"
During its two-month siege, the U.S. effectively blocked all Iranian oil exports, cutting the country's financial lifeline. Oil that couldn't be shipped out was backing up in storage, presenting Tehran with a difficult choice to shut down production and potentially damage its oil fields. Meanwhile, some Iranian officials worried the country risked running out of cash to replenish dwindling stockpiles of food.
The lifting of the blockade provided instant relief. It has allowed goods to come in and oil previously stranded onshore or in tankers floating in the Gulf to be moved out into the market or into storage near customers like China.
At least two of the Iranian state-controlled cargo ships that moved through the strait since the U.S. blockade was lifted had previously been stuck in Asia for months. Two more ships left for China loaded with Iranian iron ore.
Food shipments have also picked up. While agricultural goods were exempt from the blockade, many shippers were unwilling to deliver them given the potential legal risks of transacting with Iran. Some Iranian officials feared dwindling supplies posed a risk of social unrest.
Three cargoes of soybeans from Brazil crossed the Strait of Hormuz bound for Iran in the last days of June, Kpler data shows. Iran badly needs soybeans to feed cattle amid rocketing prices for dairy and meat.
Iran still faces some hurdles. While it has managed to move barrels out of the Persian Gulf and send tankers to a transfer hub off the coast of Malaysia, global buyers remained skittish. The U.S. sanctions waiver that allowed them to purchase Iranian oil openly was good only until Aug. 21 and subject to being pulled if Iran didn't deliver on its ceasefire commitments. The U.S. has already said the waiver is now void.
Oil refineries in big consuming countries like South Korea or Japan need time to conduct compliance and legal due diligence to buy Iranian crude, said Tom Reed, head of oil market analysis at Argus Media.
"It's a bit of a race against the clock," Reed said.
Buyers also had grown accustomed to buying Iranian oil at a discount when sanctions were in effect. With Iran trying to sell oil at close to the international oil benchmark and above some other Middle Eastern producers, buyers are waiting for Tehran to cut its prices again, Reed said.
China, the biggest and most loyal buyer of Iranian oil, pulled back in June, only importing 880,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil, a 38% drop from May, according to ship tracker Vortexa.
Analysts said Iran risks overplaying its hand. When Trump revoked the sanctions waiver this week after fighting restarted, he said the Navy could reimpose the blockade and start intercepting vessels coming out of Iran if it continues to attack ships in the waterway.
"Iran doesn't know when and how to stop," said Mohamed Amersi, an Iran expert and member of the Global Advisory Council of the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. "They should take their win and build on it."
Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com and Rebecca Feng at rebecca.feng@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 10, 2026 15:38 ET (19:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
