Iran’s oil ministry stated on Saturday that the country generated $18bn in crude sales during five months of conflict with the United States and a subsequent ceasefire, a revelation that contradicts earlier official declarations that Washington’s blockade had completely choked off exports. The ministry said $11.5bn was earned between the outbreak of war on 28 February and a truce in early April, with a further $6.5bn during the ceasefire that collapsed earlier this month. The combined sum, it added, covers more than 60% of the oil revenues budgeted for the current Iranian year.

Viewed from Tehran, the disclosure appears to bolster the government’s claim that it has managed to sustain a fiscal lifeline despite the US-Israeli military campaign and the reimposition of a tight naval quarantine. Yet only weeks earlier, parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had insisted that not a single barrel was exported during the blockade. The ministry did not explain how it bypassed restrictions, but independent energy-tracking firms indicate that China has remained the dominant buyer, with crude shipped via a shadow fleet, trans-shipment hubs, and clandestine routes that evade detection.

For global energy markets, the Iranian sales add a layer of complexity to an already volatile Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s traded crude once passed. The resumption of hostilities in July has led to attacks on vessels, soaring marine insurance premiums, and elevated tanker costs. Analysts in London note that even a partial Iranian supply – coming on top of broader Middle Eastern instability – has contributed to episodic spikes in benchmark prices and kept importers in Europe and Asia on edge over the security of a chokepoint that remains a theatre of active military contest.

The ministry’s figures leave critical questions unanswered: how much was actually delivered versus loaded, whether payment was received in hard currency or barter, and what portion of revenue reaches state coffers after steep discounts and logistical expenses. The next factual milestones will be the weekly US Energy Information Administration data on global crude flows and any further announcements from US Central Command on interdictions in the Gulf. Both will indicate whether Iran’s declared revenues can be sustained as the conflict over Hormuz intensifies.