Iran Menaces Hormuz as Its Own Oil Tankers Test US Blockade

At least two fully laden Iranian tankers have sailed out of the Persian Gulf and past a US blockade this week, part of a flotilla that has made its way around the warships and ferried roughly 9 million barrels of oil to the market. Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski reports.Source: Bloomberg

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By Weilun Soon and Rakteem Katakey

April 22, 2026 at 10:53 AM UTC

Updated on

April 22, 2026 at 3:28 PM UTC

Iranian gunboats fired on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday as Tehran maintained its grip on the vital energy channel, while two of its own oil supertankers tested a US blockade.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations, a naval liaison with the shipping industry, said on X that a cargo ship and a container ship came under fire in the waterway. Meanwhile, analytics firm Vortexa said Iran moved supertankers into the Arabian Sea, an area where the US has sought to block Iranian shipping.