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Bessent Says Hormuz Traffic Back to Pre-War Levels, Excluding Iran’s Oil
Official claim
Bessent said shipping had returned to pre-war levels apart from Iranian oil exports. The statement presents a more optimistic picture than recent traffic trackers.[1]
Conflicting evidence
Other reporting says the strait remains effectively closed to normal commercial traffic and that recent transit counts remain far below the pre-conflict baseline.[2][3]
Different measures
The apparent contradiction may result from measuring different indicators. Crude volumes can recover through a limited number of large tankers while total vessel movements, refined-product shipments and access for certain operators remain constrained.
Practical conclusion
For the question of which month traffic returns to normal, the evidence still does not identify a settled date. A partial recovery may already be occurring, but full normalization depends on sustained security and unrestricted commercial access.