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How the US naval blockade has cost Iran $6 billion in oil revenue

Politiko 2026-06-05 19:44:17

How the US naval blockade has cost Iran $6 billion in oil revenue

Iran's crude oil exports fell to their lowest level in at least six years in May as a United States naval blockade squeezes Tehran's most important source of revenue amid a fragile ceasefire between the two nations. 

The blockade of Iranian ports, which Washington launched on April 13, is part of President Donald Trump's efforts to pressure Iran to agree to his terms for a peace deal. Tehran has condemned the move as illegal and described the US seizure of ships around its ports as an "act of piracy."

The US action came after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to ships from most countries following the start of US-Israeli attacks on February 28. The narrow waterway is the Gulf's main route to the open ocean and normally carries about 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies.

The outage caused global energy prices to rise sharply and significantly reduced exports from major Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.

However, during that period, Iran was largely able to continue exporting its own oil. With fewer competitors able to move cargo through the strait, Iranian exports remained strong through March and part of April, as higher oil prices boosted revenues.

New data shows that this has changed since the US began its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

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