Iran says oil industry circumventing US blockade

Iran’s oil industry continues to find ways around a US military blockade of the country’s ports and vessels, Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA). “We are pursuing various strategies and have taken measures to overcome the blockade,” Paknejad said, describing the situation as difficult. He said US forces had attacked Kharg Island off Iran’s southwestern coast “more than 550 times” during the first 40 days of the conflict. Iran exported about 90 percent of its crude oil from the island before the war.