US Treasury: Iran Halts Crude Oil Ship Loading Under US Blockade and Sanctions

The enforcement signal here is less about the halt itself than about the 20 million barrels still afloat: Washington is effectively conceding that a sizeable volume of Iranian crude sits beyond its physical reach, parked in vessels it has not yet been able to interdict. That gap between declared blockade and residual floating stock is where the real market question sits, since those barrels represent latent supply that could re-enter trade if enforcement loosens or buyers find workarounds. Whether the Treasury can translate a loading halt into actual attrition of the shadow fleet is the open question.