According to the Wall Street Journal, citing industry analysts and the US group United Against Nuclear Iran, Iran used a temporary easing of American restrictions on its oil exports to move roughly 70 million barrels of crude abroad, with an estimated value of $5–6 billion.

The newspaper reports that since late June around 20 Iranian tankers reached waters off Malaysia’s east coast, an area used as a transfer point for the crude. The oil’s final destination is said to be China. Identified vessels include the Diona, Hero II, Sonia 1 and the Stream, which arrived on July 13.

Tehran reportedly took advantage of a roughly one-month window from mid-June to mid-July, when Washington had relaxed restrictions on Iranian ships, to reduce accumulated stocks and secure revenue before US measures on exports and the Strait of Hormuz were reinstated. The method described mirrors past sanction-evasion tactics: ship-to-ship transfers of crude in international waters outside Malaysian territorial limits, followed by delivery to Chinese refineries that buy Iranian oil at discounted prices.