First oil tanker reaches Basra as Iran reopens Hormuz
Shafaq News- Basra
An oil tanker arrived on Friday at the ports of Basra, Iraq's most oil-rich province and main export hub, marking the first such entry since the outbreak of regional conflict in late February.
A source told Shafaq News that the vessel will load two million barrels of crude before departing for India.
The arrival follows weeks of disruption after Iran had restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest oil shipping channel, in response to the US-Israeli war, effectively halting most exports passing through the strategic waterway, which carries the bulk of Iraq’s oil shipments.
Read more: Hormuz lockdown: Iraq’s economic lifeline under threat
Earlier today, Iran reopened the strait to commercial shipping, linking the move directly to a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The truce was announced on Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time (21:00 GMT / midnight Beirut time) by US President Donald Trump after contacts with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
