Iraq’s state-owned Oil Tanker Company has transported 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude through the Strait of Hormuz aboard a very large crude carrier (VLCC), in what the company described as its first such operation in decades.
The move allows Iraq to transport crude through the strait rather than delivering it at the port of Basra, giving state oil marketer SOMO greater flexibility over where and how it sells the oil.
Oil Tanker Company Director General Ali Qais Abdul Jabbar said the operation could help SOMO take advantage of better sales and pricing opportunities.
The company is also seeking to acquire specialised crude oil tankers to expand its fleet and strengthen its position among regional shipping operators.
Iraq has previously secured Iranian permission for its oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed amid its conflict with the US.
US Senator Chris Murphy has arrived in Qatar as part of a Middle East trip to assess damage from the US-Israel war on Iran and meet officials involved in efforts to end the conflict.
Murphy said on X that he would also travel to Riyadh, describing himself as the first Democratic senator to visit the region since the war began.
He said the trip would focus on assessing damage to US facilities, discussing the war’s impact and efforts to end the conflict with Qatari and Saudi officials, and considering future US policy towards the Gulf.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the government has adopted a “new arrangement” to manage the country’s “special conditions”, while claiming intensified economic pressure has failed to achieve its objectives.
In a post on X, Pezeshkian said Iran’s government, backed by the public, had prevented what he described as an “economic war” from achieving its goals.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the war with Iran would end “very quickly” and predicted oil prices would fall sharply once the conflict ends. He said Iran faced severe economic and military pressure.
Trump has previously said the war with Iran would end “very quickly” and predicted that oil prices would fall sharply once hostilities ended.
Speaking to reporters in Texas, he said Iran faced a choice over how the conflict would conclude.
“Iran will very soon be ending one way or the other,” Trump said.
He pointed to Iran’s economic and military difficulties, citing what he described as extremely high inflation and a lack of financial resources.
“And, one way or the other, it’s going to end very quickly. And when that ends, oil prices are going to drop like a rock,” Trump said.
Trump’s latest comments come amid continued US pressure on Tehran, with preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear capability remaining a central US policy objective.
The President has not disclosed what further actions Washington may take or when a decision on Iran will be announced.
Trump said that Washington would soon make a decision on Iran, warning that the outcome would come “the easy way or the hard way”.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said Iran had been “decimated” but did not provide details of his administration’s next steps.
“We have a decision that I’ll make about Iran. Iran’s been decimated. So the only question is, it’ll either be the easy way or the hard way,” Trump said.
Trump has continued to withhold details of his plans for Iran, saying the situation was developing favourably for the US.
Asked about his strategy on Friday, Trump suggested that revealing his plans would generate significant headlines.
“If I told you, you’d have a major story, right? But you’ll see. Working out very well. Iran is not doing well,” he said.
The US President did not give a timeline or outline specific measures his administration could take next.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that his government had adopted a “new arrangement” to manage what he described as special conditions, as the United States steps up economic pressure and sanctions against Iran.
In a post on X, Pezeshkian accused the US and other adversaries of seeking to cut off Iran’s vital economic lifelines to pressure the Iranian people.
He said government measures and public support had so far prevented those efforts from achieving their objectives.
“The government has adopted a new arrangement to manage these special conditions,” Pezeshkian said, describing the intensified economic pressure as an “economic war”.
Flames and smoke were seen rising from a facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco south of the kingdom's capital Riyadh on Saturday, an AFP journalist said.
The circumstances remained unclear but in recent weeks Aramco, majority-owned by the Saudi state, has come under attack from the Houthi group targeting the kingdom as part of the war in Yemen where Riyadh is backing the internationally recognised government.
The journalist reported seeing fire engines attempting to extinguish a blaze at the energy giant's Riyadh refinery, located south of the capital, while ambulances and police vehicles were stationed near the facility.
Both the Houthis and Saudi authorities had yet to comment on the incident.
