U.S. blockade has cost Iran $4.8B in oil: Pentagon
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- Pentagon estimates the U.S. blockade in the Gulf of Oman has denied Iran $4.8 billion in oil revenue since the operation began April 13, with 31 tankers carrying 53 million barrels stuck in the Gulf.
- U.S. military has redirected more than 40 vessels carrying oil and contraband through the blockade and seized two ships, with some Iranian tankers rerouting via Pakistan and India to reach China through the Malacca Strait.
- Iran has resorted to using older tankers as floating storage as on-land facilities reach capacity, according to Pentagon officials.
- Eurasia Group analyst Gregory Brew says Iran is 'weeks, or perhaps as much as a month' from exhausting storage — the threshold at which oil wells would be forced to shut down.
- TankerTrackers.com co-founder Samir Madani warned a dozen Iranian tankers anchored off Chabahar port — including the newly redirected vessel SNOW — could attempt a 'Great Escape' jailbreak once they build up storage near the Pakistan border.
- Joel Valdez, the acting Pentagon press secretary, said the blockade is 'delivering the decisive impact we intended' and is 'inflicting a devastating blow' to Iran's ability to fund 'terrorism and regional destabilization.'
- Trump is using the blockade as his most significant leverage tool in peace talks that 'stop and start,' with the Strait of Hormuz also under Iranian blockade in what officials describe as a 'cold war phase' of the conflict.
Why it matters: With Iran weeks to a month from exhausting storage, the U.S. pressure campaign aims to trigger oil well shutdowns — handing Trump maximum leverage in the stalled peace talks. The Pentagon's $4.8 billion figure doubles as a public-facing message, deployed as negotiations 'stop and start' with no concrete agreements yet reported, while a dozen bottled-up tankers near Chabahar raise the risk of an escalation.
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