Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Deputy Oil Minister for Extraction Affairs Basim Khudair revealed on Sunday that plans to export four million barrels of oil over the next few days had been canceled after a vessel carrying two million barrels of Iraqi oil returned due to Iran’s repeated blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. Khudair told Rudaw News that two oil tankers scheduled to dock in a southern Iraqi port on April 21 and 22 to load four million barrels of oil cancelled their plans. The cancellation occurred after a tanker arrived at Basra port on Thursday evening to load two million barrels but was compelled to turn back when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Khudair emphasized that oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz will not continue unless the situation returns to pre-war conditions and the safety of the vessels and their cargo can be guaranteed. The situation in the maritime route deteriorated further last week when US President Donald Trump chose to enforce a blockade on Iranian ports, despite a truce between the two sides set to run until the middle of this week. Due to the blockade, Tehran announced on Saturday the closure of the strait, which transports one-fifth of the world’s oil. Following the outbreak of the war on February 28, Iraq announced a reduction in its oil production to about 1.2 million barrels per day, compared to about 4.3 million barrels previously, as storage facilities reached their limits and exports via traditional routes remained interrupted.