Bloomberg cites a new report from United Against Nuclear Iran that claims the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has created a parking lot of more than 50 Iranian tankers that dare not cross the critical waterway.
The nonprofit think tank, which focuses on combating threats posed by Iran, said the number of laden tankers was broadly unchanged from two months earlier. The tankers were mostly carrying crude, along with some petroleum products and LNG.
UANI also noted that empty tankers were waiting at anchorages across the Indo-Pacific region rather than returning to Iranian ports, adding that at least 20 Iran-flagged ships were positioned off Sri Lanka and another was off Oman.
UANI’s report comes days after Bloomberg said Iran’s crude loadings fell to zero in September.
Over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined Mike Allen on “The Axios Show” and confirmed: “For the first time in history, they [Iran], since they started pumping oil, they will have no oil on the water this week. They will have no revenue.”
Bessent on Iran: For the first time in history, since they started pumping oil, they will have no oil on the water this week. They will have no revenues. https://t.co/PIrHwUCG4q
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 3, 2026
Separately, last week, Goldman analysts Yulia Zhestkova Grigsby, Alexandra Paulus, and Daan Struyven told clients that a “divergence between the fall of Iranian exports and the rise of exports of other Persian Gulf producers” was underway.
The Goldman energy experts estimated that “dark exports” have helped boost Persian Gulf oil exports to 23.3 million barrels a day late last month, back to prewar levels.
All indications so far point to the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast” working as planned, with allied Gulf exports continuing to flow while Iran is starved of oil revenue amid the blockade. The question is whether this plan should’ve been implemented on day one of the conflict.
