Iran says blockade of its southern ports cut imports 25 per cent
Trump says Strait of Hormuz flows now exceed pre-conflict levels, while Iran says it has stopped illicit vessel traffic there.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz, Bandar Abbas
Iran says a blockade of its southern ports has cut imports through them by 25 per cent, ISNA reported.
Talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz have stalled since late September, and Tehran wants the blockade lifted first. On October 22, Trump said flows through the strait exceed pre-conflict levels. Earlier today, Iran's Fars news agency reported that Iran has stopped illicit vessel traffic there, so the two governments give opposing accounts of shipping through the strait. Trump has pledged no strikes on Iran before November 3.
Oil futures have posted their sharpest weekly drop since April, on ceasefire uncertainty.
The 25 per cent drop in imports gives a hard figure to set against weeks of competing claims about how much Gulf shipping is being disrupted. It cuts against the idea that ceasefire talk had eased the standoff's real-world impact. Bessent has framed Iran's economy as approaching a breaking point under pressure, and the import figure adds a trade-side data point to that argument. It does not settle whether the blockade or wider sanctions are the larger driver.
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