Iran’s Kharg Island Has No Tankers Loading In Sign US Blockade Is Biting

The Kharg Island oil terminal in Iran.

Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

Iran’s main oil export facility in the Persian Gulf stayed devoid of tankers for at least a 10th day, underscoring the growing strain on Tehran from a US naval blockade.

Since May 8, Sentinel satellite images have been taken of Kharg Island on seven days. In all those pictures, including the latest on Saturday, no loadings of large ocean-going tankers are visible at the facility’s crude-export berths.