Iran Allowed to Sell Oil; '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 seen a sharp decline.

Yu Deok-gi reports.

[Reporter]

A tanker tracking service reported that on June 15, the day the United States 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. naval blockade line.

Prior to this, semi-official Iranian media also reported that three oil tankers and two cargo ships carrying essential goods 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 Iran's oil exports would be temporarily permitted while negotiations proceeded following the signing ceremony on June 19. However, it appears that oil exports have already resumed due to the U.S. lifting the blockade.

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

With the resumption of Iranian oil exports, international oil prices, including Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), have fallen 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 reduced and ships begin to transit smoothly, we will remain in a situation similar to that of 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 exports to the United States could also be opened.

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