The U.S. Navy opens the Strait to all but the Iranian regime’s oil exports. New reports from tanker-tracking groups confirm what the Trump Administration has been saying: Adm. Brad Cooper and the forces of U.S. Central Command have turned around the battle of the Strait of Hormuz. Data from Kpler indicate that the seven-day average for oil clearing the Strait is 14.19 million barrels a day, approaching the prewar baseline of 17.13 million. Most of what’s missing are Iranian oil exports stopped by the U.S. blockade.
The recent resumption of oil flowing through the Saudi bypass pipeline, followed by accelerating loadings at the port of Yanbu to transit the Red Sea, will unlock more exports. This is what progress looks like: Iran’s oil is blocked while the world’s oil increasingly gets through. The effect is to reduce pressure on the West and its Gulf allies while Iran must scrounge for money.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimates the Iranians will deliver the last of this oil to China in mid-October. Meanwhile, Mr. Bessent has been squeezing Iran’s other trade partners as never before. This has been felt most acutely in the United Arab Emirates, which responded by cutting off trade with Iran, and Turkey, which is closing Iranian banks. The region is also closing its skies to Tehran by suspending flights.
One by one, Iran is losing its lifelines. No wonder Iran’s currency set another record low on Tuesday, plummeting past 2.5 million rials to the dollar. Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hailed the success of U.S. measures in Hormuz. That doesn’t mean Iran is finished shooting, but Iran’s main goal and boast in this war, seizing the Strait, is being reversed.
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing