On October 16, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper released a video message stating that following the U.S. "Operation Epic Fury," the region deployed over 50,000 American forces, resulting in Iran being unable to export or import anything by sea, with the strait becoming completely "impenetrable" except for humanitarian aid. According to Iran International's account, Cooper claimed this blockade has prevented at least $25 billion in crude oil exports and aided the freezing of approximately $350 million in cryptocurrency assets with help from other U.S. agencies. Cooper added that this pressure has forced Iran's government, including the Revolutionary Guards and other institutions, to fall behind on salary payments to security forces.

On the same day, in a separate report also covered by Iran International, Reuters—citing ship tracking data, satellite imagery, and maritime security sources—reported that at least eight LPG-laden tankers have departed the Sea of Oman since mid-July, and a jet fuel tanker reached Myanmar in September. According to four maritime security sources, Tehran is concealing these shipments within broader ship-to-ship transfer traffic involving other Persian Gulf producers. Jamie Shelley, a senior analyst at UANI (the American group monitoring Iran's nuclear weapons development), calculated the total LPG volume at approximately 4.1 million barrels and said the bulk of the cargo was transferred to other vessels off Malaysia, likely bound for China.

These two accounts cannot both be true: while CENTCOM implies not a single barrel has left by sea, Reuters' sources point to a leak in the millions of barrels. Which side is exaggerating remains unconfirmed; Shelley himself emphasized that these passages are opportunistic and exceptional, not a permanent new method to breach the blockade.

How the Persian press covered it

Iran International published CENTCOM's claims and Reuters' findings in two separate reports without cross-referencing them, making it harder for readers to compare the two narratives. Official Iranian agencies (IRNA, ISNA) did not directly carry CENTCOM's statement; conversely, Reuters' reporting suggesting the blockade is ineffective did not appear prominently in any pro-government Persian sources.

Context

CENTCOM's blockade claims align with the "Operation Economic Outcast" sanctions campaign; within this campaign, the U.S. Treasury Department last week added 16 individuals and more than 10 entities linked to Iran back to the sanctions list. (See: U.S. Treasury adds 16 Iran-linked individuals and 10+ entities to sanctions list). According to a September report in Maritime Executive, Cooper stated at that time that 110 Iran-linked merchant vessels had been turned away and the blockade was "100 percent effective"; meanwhile, AJOT's reporting based on Kpler data shows that China purchased 9.6 million tons of LPG from Iran in 2025, making Iran China's second-largest LPG supplier. These figures underscore the gap between U.S. claims about the blockade's tightness and independent assessments by maritime analysts. The same day, a tanker incident in the Strait of Hormuz—where the IRGC and India's government disputed whether a mine or a projectile was responsible (see: Giant tanker hit in Hormuz: IRGC says mine, India claims projectile)—further complicates the question of how airtight the "impenetrable blockade" claim really is on the ground. A day later, the attack count itself became a point of dispute, with TASS citing 22 ships hit in 13 days against UKMTO's tally of 12 (Attack count disputes: TASS said 22 ships in 13 days; UK center logged 12).

This article is for information only; not investment advice.