Following three days of Iranian missile attacks on Israeli territory, Iranian oil tankers have left their positions at the country’s main oil export terminal, amid threats from Israel to launch strikes on targets within Iran, including oil facilities.
According to TankerTrackers.com Inc, a company specializing in tracking and monitoring ships using satellite data, the oil tankers departed from Iran’s largest oil terminal.
In a tweet on its platform, X, the company stated, “It appears that the National Iranian Oil Company fears an imminent attack by Israel. Empty supertankers have left the country’s largest oil terminal, Kharg Island, as of yesterday.”
The company added, “Crude oil loading operations continue, but all additional vacant shipping capacity has been removed from the Kharg Island dock. This is the first time we have seen anything like this since the sanctions round in 2018.”
CNBC reported that satellite images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission from the European Space Agency on September 25 showed several supertankers in the waters surrounding Kharg Island. However, images of the same location taken yesterday showed an empty sea around Kharg Island.
Anticipated Israeli Response
Israeli media reported today that the Israeli security cabinet has decided to respond to the Iranian missile attack. Sources for Channel 13 stated, “Israel does not want the response to Iran to lead to an exchange of strikes in the near future.”
U.S. President Joe Biden urged Israel not to target Iranian oil facilities in retaliation for Tehran’s actions this week. He told reporters, “If I were in their position, I would consider alternatives to striking oil fields,” following discussions about similar Israeli strikes.
