Nearly 70% of Iran oil tankers faked travel routes: Nikkei analysis

Nearly 70% of Iranian oil tankers have made attempts to fake their travel routes, an analysis by Nikkei shows, with many of them likely transporting crude to China to bring in precious foreign currency to the sanctioned Middle Eastern country. . . . Iran's exports of crude oil grew roughly 70% between 2019 and 2024, according to U.S. nonprofit United Against Nuclear Iran, with around 90% bound for China. UANI's view is that Iran has grown increasingly reliant on China buying crude oil since the U.S. imposed sanctions in 2018. But United Nations data shows China's imports of Iranian crude plunging after the sanctions, with none at all appearing since 2023. Its imports of Malaysian oil have risen instead, accounting for 13% of the total in the first half of this year, according to Chinese customs data -- not far behind Russia at 17% and Saudi Arabia at 15%. The gap between the UANI and U.N. numbers signals attempts to conceal the oil's Iranian origin.