More than 10 million barrels of Iranian crude oil have left the Persian Gulf in the week since the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, the AP revealed. The agency cited analytical firm Vortexa.
Vortexa said it had recorded 34 movements of sanctioned and Iran-linked tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf between April 13 and Monday, April 20, including 19 outbound and 15 inbound trips.
At least six of the tankers that left the Persian Gulf during the US blockade were carrying Iranian oil cargoes worth at least $910 million.
The FT said one of the tankers that bypassed the US blockade and left the Persian Gulf was the "Dorena" - an Iranian-flagged supertanker that left Iranian waters on April 17 and reported its location off the southern coast of India a day later.
The tanker is sanctioned by the US and is a key element of Iran's oil export fleet.
Vortexa data showed that two more US-sanctioned tankers bypassed the blockade of Iranian ports on April 20, while several other sanctioned tankers under the flags of other countries entered the Persian Gulf in the following days.
The Iranian smuggling comes as Trump touts his naval blockade of Iran as a "huge success", saying the measure has deprived the country of hundreds of millions of dollars in oil and trade revenues.
Iran has condemned the blockade as illegal and a violation of the fragile ceasefire, vowing to retaliate on both sides. ship seizures by US forces in regional and international waters.
Iranian media reported on Wednesday that the country's military forces had seized at least three ships in the Strait of Hormuz for violating passage rules.
Iran has maintained tight control over transit through the strait since the start of the US-Israeli aggression against the country in early March.
Iranian authorities have made it clear that they may ease restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its illegal blockade and other sanctions against the ayatollahs' regime.
The issue has become a major obstacle to diplomatic efforts to organize a new round of brokered talks between Tehran and Washington after the first round ended in Pakistan on April 12 without reaching an agreement.