A cargo ship is displayed off the coast of Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep sea port in the region and one of the largest ports in Sharjah Emirate, near the Gulf of Oman on June 28, 2026.
– | Afp | Getty Images
Iran has exported more than 40 million barrels of crude oil since the US lifted its embargo on Iranian ports, and is now selling oil at prices nearly 20% higher than before the war, said parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Tuesday.
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 to end nearly four months of war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and set up 60 days of talks for a permanent peace deal. The two sides briefly traded blows over the weekend after Iran attacked two ships.
The ceasefire has led to an increase in shipments of crude oil along the key waterway where traffic has stalled heavily during the conflict, sending oil prices plummeting.
“Since the day the naval embargo was lifted, we have shipped more than 40 million barrels of oil,” Ghalibaf said in a televised interview published on his Telegram channel. Iran could not export a single barrel during the nearly two-month embargo that preceded the deal, he added.
Tanker tracking company TankerTrackers.com said on Wednesday it estimated Iran had shipped 50 million barrels of crude oil since the US lifted its maritime embargo on energy exports to the country two weeks ago. The company uses satellite imagery, coastal photography, and a real-time automated identification system to monitor vessel movements.
Brent crude traded near $73 a barrel on Wednesday, down nearly 40% from a wartime peak of $118 in April, as communications progress and expectations of renewed Gulf supply weighed on prices. Iranian crude sold at a discount of $10 to $15 a barrel below Brent before the war to compensate buyers for sanctions risk, according to Gregory Brew, senior analyst at Eurasia Group.
Iran agreed to free passage of ships in Hormuz for 60 days under the MOU, but insisted it would retain control of the waterway.
“The sovereignty of the Strait of Hormuz lies in Iran and Oman, and the traffic in this problem is subject to the plans decided by Iran,” said Ghalibaf. “Iran will not give up its rights in the Strait of Hormuz under any circumstances, and these are our international waters.”
It is unclear how the strait will be managed once the 60-day window expires. Ships cross the Strait of Hormuz through the southern passage off the coast of Oman or through Iranian-controlled routes to the north.
Ghalibaf also pushed back on President Donald Trump’s claim that unfrozen Iranian goods would be used to buy American agricultural goods, saying $12 billion of the estimated $24 billion in frozen goods abroad would go to the country’s central bank “to buy any goods they need, at any price and in any currency in the world.”
