Iran Ships Some LPG, Jet Fuel Despite US Blockade, Data Shows

Iran has managed to export some liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel since July, despite a US naval blockade, shipping intelligence showed and people involved in security said.

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The guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) on patrol as part of the U.S.

blockade on ships underway to and from Iranian ports.

Photo shared by US Central Command DAMASCUS/LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Iran has managed to export some liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel since July, despite a US naval blockade, shipping intelligence showed and people involved in security said.

Tehran has in recent weeks been concealing such cargoes among a growing volume of ship-to-ship transfers by other Gulf producers off Oman, four people in maritime security who track Gulf oil movements told Reuters.

The Iranian exports and methodology are reported for the first time here.

While a fraction of its former energy exports , the cargoes are rare evidence of petroleum products getting through a blockade that has halted Iran’s crude exports.

Analysis by US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran-related tanker traffic using ship and satellite tracking, shows at least eight gas tankers carrying Iranian LPG have left the Gulf of Oman since mid-July.

Another tanker carrying Iranian jet fuel reached Myanmar in September, additional satellite imagery and analysis by maritime intelligence group SynMax show.

The US imposed targeted sanctions in 2023 on Myanmar’s jet-fuel industry, citing military airstrikes on civilians that the United Nations says have killed thousands of people.

Myanmar’s military government has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, saying its operations are directed against armed groups.

Six of the eight gas tankers and the jet fuel tanker are under US sanctions for transporting Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products, a Reuters analysis of the vessels and sanctions imposed on ships by the US Treasury showed.

“What we have seen passing is a handful of tankers carrying Iranian LPG, but the overwhelming majority of tankers laden with Iranian products have been redirected by US forces,” said Jemima Shelley, senior research analyst with UANI.