Axios: Iran's Oil Revenues Have Fallen Sharply
- 2.05.2026, 9:41
The U.S. blockade in the Gulf of Oman has put unprecedented pressure on Tehran.
The Pentagon has estimated that the US blockade in the Gulf of Oman has deprived Iran of nearly 5 billion in oil revenues, putting unprecedented pressure on Tehran's governments.
This is reported by Axios.
The publication writes that the blockade is the most important leverage that US President Donald Trump has at his disposal to negotiate and end the war with Iran.
And the Pentagon, for its part, is eager to emphasize the blockade's impact in dictionaries when peace talks are either resumed or suspended.
How much money Iran has lost
According to Pentagon officials, since the blockade began on April 13, U.S. forces have diverted more than 40 ships that have tried to break through the blockade carrying oil and other smuggled goods.
A total of 31 tankers carrying 53 million barrels of Iranian oil are "stranded in the Persian Gulf," with a total value of at least $4.8 billion. And the US has confiscated two vessels.
Axios writes that due to the inability to refuel new tankers with oil as onshore storage facilities are full, Iran has started using old tankers as floating storage facilities.
Iran is trying to circumvent the blockade
The publication's sources said that some tankers are choosing "a more expensive and longer route to deliver oil to China due to fears of maritime interception by the US."
In particular, TankerTrackers co-founder Samir Madani said that a large Iranian oil tanker called "HUGE" showed how to avoid interception by the US.
The vessel was known to be traveling along the coasts of Pakistan and India on its way to the relatively safe harbor of the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia, where oil is usually trans-loaded onto other ships that are bound for China.
Madani said that at some point Iranian tankers that are under blockade could attempt a large-scale "escape."
"I think the Iranians will wait for the right moment to organize a sudden 'Great Escape' once they create more depots near the border with Pakistan," he said.
The nature of the U.S. blockade
At this stage of the conflict, both sides are using the blockades to inflict economic damage. Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, preventing ships from passing through, to which the US has responded with a blockade in the Gulf of Oman.
The essence of the US pressure campaign is to force Iran to exhaust its oil storage capacity, which would lead to the shutdown of oil wells.
"They probably have a few weeks, maybe a month, before they run out of storage space," Eurasia Group analyst Gregory Brew told the publication.