By Victoria Friedman

The Iranian regime has not been able to export any crude oil for nearly a month amid the United States’ naval blockade, a maritime intelligence company says.

TankTrackers.com, a ship-monitoring service that tracks crude oil movements, said in a May 12 post on X that, to the best of its knowledge, “Iran hasn’t successfully exported any crude oil by sea over the past 28 days.”

Some refined products have been exported because the United States’ Office of Foreign Assets Control had not sanctioned those tankers.

The company noted that its definition of an export out of Iran “is when a tanker exfiltrates the US Navy blockade line and doesn’t return with the oil.”

“There are still plenty of cargo-empty tankers both inside and outside the blockade perimeter; as well as plenty of cargo-laden tankers grouped together not too far away from Pakistan,” TankerTrackers.com said.

It added that Iran’s Kharg Island had not loaded any tankers since May 6, as a result of an oil leak that the regime has denied happening.

Iranian authorities said on May 12 that a suspected oil spill near the main oil hub of Kharg Island was likely caused by ‌a tanker dumping wastewater, rather than a leak from oil facilities.

According to state media, Iranian ​Vice President Shina Ansari said, “Our monitoring results show that ​this spill was caused by the discharge of ballast water ‌contaminated ⁠with substances from a non-Iranian tanker, and no oil leaks have been reported from Iran’s pipelines or oil facilities.”

The U.S. naval blockade came into force on April 13. It affects the Strait of Hormuz and ​locations along the Persian Gulf and ‌the Gulf ⁠of Oman, and involves blocking ship traffic to and from Iranian ports.

The latest update from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in a May 12 post on X states that 65 commercial vessels have been redirected and four disabled. It also said that the USS Abraham Lincoln is operating in the Arabian Sea as part of the blockade.

Only Making ‘a Good Deal’

Speaking to reporters before departing the White House on May 12 for Beijing for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump said of Iran: “Their military is gone. It’s wiped out, and we’re only going to make a good deal.

“But I believe that one way or the other, it’s going to be very good for the American people, and I think actually very good for the Iranian people.”

When asked by reporters on Tuesday whether he had any message for Xi in relation to the Iran War, Trump said that he was going to talk with him about the conflict.

“I think he’s been relatively good, to be honest with you. You look at the blockade, no problem. They get a lot of their oil from that area. We’ve had no problem,” he said.

When asked whether he thought Xi needed to intervene in the conflict, Trump said, “I don’t think we need any help with Iran,” adding, “We’ll win it one way or another. Peacefully, or otherwise.”

Senior officials in Jerusalem say that no breakthrough is expected in the near future in behind-the-scenes talks between Iran and the United States through mediators. Trump is expected to decide over the weekend about continuing the Iran campaign, after returning from his visit to China, they said.

Senior security officials told Epoch Magazine Israel that the Iranian leadership, headed by Mojtaba Khamenei, is united in its position that it won’t back down on the nuclear issue, despite internal disagreements within its ranks. From its perspective, the nuclear program is the “crown jewel” and a symbol of Iran’s national pride.

Reuters contributed to this report.