Breaking news update, July 26, 2026: Iran says it has sold about $18 billion worth of oil since the war began, a claim that points to a bigger financial buffer for Tehran even as the United States keeps pressure on Iranian shipping and the Strait of Hormuz remains unstable.
The Jerusalem Post, citing Reuters, reported Sunday that Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said Iran sold $11.5 billion worth of oil during the war and another $6.5 billion during a ceasefire. Paknejad said the total generated more than 60% of the oil revenue forecast in Iran’s annual budget.
EnergyNow carried the Reuters report, saying the ceasefire period lowered risks to tanker traffic and helped Iran sell part of roughly 100 million barrels of stored crude oil and gas condensate.
The figures have not been independently verified, and they come from Iran’s oil minister. But the claim matters because it suggests Tehran may have turned the brief easing of maritime pressure into hard cash before the latest blockade and strike cycle tightened again.
Iran Says Oil Revenue Kept Flowing
The headline number is simple: $18 billion. The split is more revealing. Iran says $11.5 billion came during active hostilities, while $6.5 billion came during the ceasefire period, when tanker traffic faced lower risk and shipping routes temporarily opened wider.
That helps explain why the oil story is more than a market sidebar. If Tehran banked more than half of its expected annual oil revenue during the conflict and truce period, Washington’s blockade may be biting into future exports without fully erasing the cash Iran already moved through the system.
The Jerusalem Post also noted earlier reporting that Iran exported roughly 70 million barrels of oil worth an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion during a month-long suspension of the U.S. blockade. That window ran after a temporary U.S.-Iran arrangement allowed tankers loaded at Iran’s eastern port of Chabahar to move toward Asia.
The Malaysia Route Is Back In Focus
The Times of India, citing Wall Street Journal reporting and United Against Nuclear Iran estimates, said about 20 Iranian tankers began arriving off Malaysia’s east coast after the blockade was lifted. Analysts said the oil was likely headed ultimately to China, still Iran’s main market for sanctioned crude.
That route matters because it is familiar. Iranian oil often moves to waters near Malaysia’s Eastern Outer Port Limits, where ship-to-ship transfers can obscure the cargo’s origin before it heads toward private Chinese refineries. The method does not make the trade invisible, but it can make enforcement slower and more complicated.
According to the same reporting, Iran moved about 50 million barrels in the second half of June alone. Total shipments during the mid-June to mid-July window were estimated at about 70 million barrels, worth $5 billion to $6 billion.
Why This Changes The Pressure Picture
The latest official figure lands at an awkward moment for Washington. U.S. strikes are paused for now, but the naval blockade remains central to American pressure on Tehran. The intended message is that Iran cannot use the war and Hormuz crisis to keep exporting oil freely.
Iran’s message is the opposite: even under war conditions, it says oil revenue kept coming in. That gives Tehran a domestic talking point and potentially more room to absorb renewed pressure.
It also complicates the ceasefire narrative. The pause in fighting may have reduced immediate military risk, but it also appears to have opened a valuable export window. For Iran, that window helped move stored crude. For the United States, it raises a harder question: whether temporary relief bought calm, or gave Tehran enough revenue to keep resisting.
The answer will matter as the next round of diplomacy, blockade enforcement, and Hormuz shipping talks unfold. Iran is still under pressure. But if Paknejad’s numbers are close to accurate, Tehran did not come through the latest phase empty-handed.
Sources: The Jerusalem Post/Reuters, EnergyNow/Reuters, and The Times of India.