Three Indian Tankers Cross Hormuz Despite Iran Closure
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- Three Indian oil supertankers with a combined capacity of 6 million barrels emitted signals while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday along a route that hugs Oman's coast, according to ship-tracking data.
- One of the supertankers resumed sending automated signals early Sunday after reaching the Gulf of Oman, providing a second data point confirming the transit.
- Iran claimed to have closed the Strait of Hormuz again, but the live ship-tracking data shows the waterway remained active through the weekend.
- Washington and Tehran are offering contrasting narratives over the status of the chokepoint, with the US effectively pointing to continued traffic as evidence it remains open.
- Millions of barrels of oil continued flowing through the strait over the weekend, underscoring that the world's most important oil channel is still operating despite Tehran's rhetoric.
Why it matters: The gap between Iran's closure claim and live ship-tracking — three supertankers carrying 6 million barrels openly transiting — weakens Tehran's leverage over the chokepoint and dilutes the closure threat as a bargaining chip in its standoff with Washington.
