Iran Allowed to Resume Oil Sales; 'Tankers Already Departed'

[Anchor]

Although the official signing ceremony has yet to take place, it appears the United States has already lifted its maritime blockade on Iran and authorized oil exports. Iran's supertankers have begun their export journeys, and international oil prices have dropped significantly.

Yu Deok-gi reports.

[Reporter]

A tanker tracking service reported that on June 15, the day the U.S. and Iran electronically signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end hostilities, two Iranian state-owned supertankers carrying a total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil crossed the U.S. blockade line.

Prior to this, Iranian semi-official media also reported that three tankers and two cargo ships carrying essential supplies had passed through the U.S. maritime blockade.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid stated that the U.S. maritime blockade on Iranian ports has been lifted.

U.S. media outlets had initially reported that Iranian oil exports would be temporarily permitted while negotiations were underway following the signing ceremony scheduled for the 19th. However, with the U.S. lifting the blockade, it appears that oil exports have already resumed.

According to the released draft of the MOU, the U.S. agreed to allow Iranian oil exports until sanctions against Iran are lifted, suggesting this is not a temporary measure but effectively a permanent one.

As Iranian oil exports resumed, international oil prices, including Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), fell to the $70 range for the first time in about three months, marking a sharp decline for four consecutive trading days.

However, as it will take time to normalize the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices are expected to remain higher than pre-war levels for the time being.

[Patrick De Haan / Petroleum Analyst at GasBuddy: Until the backlog is cleared and ships start moving smoothly, we will be in the same situation as we were a few weeks ago.]

Depending on the outcome of future negotiations, if the U.S. embargo and various sanctions imposed since the 1979 Tehran hostage crisis are lifted after 47 years, the path for Iranian oil to be exported to the U.S. could also open.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol, Design: Lee Jun-ho, Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.