As the US-Israel war against Iran enters its twelfth day, the IRGC has escalated attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the disruption, Iranian oil exports to China have surged, prompting the IEA to announce an unprecedented 400-million-barrel strategic reserve release.
On the twelfth day of the war between the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced an unprecedented emergency release of 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to ease the intense market pressures stemming from the Middle East conflict, according to Vahid Online. Quoting IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, the channel reported: "The challenges facing the oil market are unprecedented in scale; therefore, I am very pleased that the member countries of the agency have responded to this situation with a collective emergency action of unprecedented dimensions."
Global oil prices spiked over 5% following a severe escalation in maritime attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Vahid Online, a prominent channel critical of the Iranian government, reports that the IRGC targeted two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz: the Liberian-flagged Express Rome and the Thai-flagged Mayori Nari. The attack caused a fire on the Mayori Nari; the Oman Coast Guard rescued 20 crew members, but three remain missing. In a televised broadcast, IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri declared that from now on, any vessel passing through the strait must receive permission from the Islamic Republic.
Despite Iran's aggressive disruptions to global shipping, the country's own oil exports have actually increased since the conflict began on February 28. Citing Kpler tanker tracking data published by the Wall Street Journal, Akharin Khabar reports that tankers are loading approximately 2.1 million barrels per day of Iranian oil, a volume slightly higher than pre-war levels in February.
Multiple channels circulated a CNBC report highlighting that all of these exports are destined for China. The anti-government channel Politics Cafe emphasized that the regime has passed over 11 million barrels of oil through the strait since the war began. Conversely, the pro-military IRGC News Channel shared the exact same CNBC data, framing it as a point of pride that Iran continues to export millions of barrels to China despite the navigation disruptions in the strait.
To maintain these shipments amid their own threats to regional shipping, Iranian vessels have adjusted their tactics. Khabar Fouri News notes that many Iranian vessels have turned off their tracking systems to avoid detection. Furthermore, the channel reports that Iran has resumed loading oil tankers at the Jask oil and gas terminal in the Gulf of Oman, located south of the Strait of Hormuz, effectively bypassing the contested chokepoint and increasing its export capacity.
Multiple channels widely circulated translated reports from CNBC and the WSJ regarding Iranian oil exports. Distinct editorial stances are visible: opposition channels refer to the state as the regime or the Islamic Republic, while state-aligned channels boast about Iran's export resilience despite the ongoing conflict.