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Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz

Tehran allows Iraqi vessels transit after repeated requests amid falling exports and a proposed $15 billion pipeline.

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What this story says

  • Iran has granted special permission for Iraqi oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.
  • The permission followed repeated requests from Baghdad, including discussions during a visit by Iran's parliament speaker to Iraq.
  • Iraq's crude oil exports have fallen significantly, averaging about 1.4 million barrels per day in July.
  • Iraq is considering a proposed pipeline to Syria's Baniyas port, estimated to cost at least $15 billion and take four years to build.

Who covered it

Left 21%(10)Centre 33%(16)Right 46%(22)

Percentages are shares of the 48 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 44 of the 92 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

86/100

Craft

85/100

Hype

15/100

92 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 10 of the 48 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Iran has granted special permission for Iraqi oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The decision followed repeated requests from Baghdad, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency. Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibet Al-Halbousi had raised the issue during talks with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who reportedly pledged to address it upon his return to Iran. This development comes as Iraq's crude oil exports have seen a sharp decline.

Data from Kpler indicated that only seven commodity vessels transited the strait on Thursday, a decrease from fourteen the previous day. Iraq's crude oil exports averaged approximately 1.4 million barrels per day in July, a significant drop from earlier periods. In response to these export challenges, Iraq is pursuing alternative export routes. One such proposal involves a pipeline to Syria's Baniyas port, with an estimated cost of at least $15 billion and a construction timeline of four years.

Disagreement on details of the transit

While Iran's IRNA agency reported that special permission was granted, the number of tankers receiving this authorisation, their transit schedule, and the volume of crude oil they were carrying were not specified by the Iranian state media. Shafaq News also noted that the outlets did not provide these details.

What the coverage left out

None of the centre or right-rated reports mention the proposed pipeline to Syria's Baniyas port, its estimated cost of $15 billion, or its four-year construction timeline. The digests from the right-rated outlets also did not mention the Kpler data on the reduced number of commodity vessels transiting the strait on Thursday.

Coverage settled. We checked this 51 times and stopped on 28 Aug 2026, 01:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz
Unknown

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

10 rated outlets

  • Several left-rated outlets reported that Iran granted special passage for Iraqi oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. This followed repeated requests from Baghdad, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA. The approval was reportedly a key demand during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baghar Ghalibaf's visit to Iraq.
  • Some reports noted that Iraq is pursuing alternative oil export routes through Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. One outlet mentioned that China and India have also negotiated special passage for their ships. The strategic waterway remains closed, with traffic below pre-war levels.
  • One report stated that Iran uses cooperation with Iraq to circumvent US sanctions, including by blending oil and using false documents. Another mentioned that Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said his country's territory would not be used for attacks against other states.

Centre

16 rated outlets

  • The centre-rated report from ANSA stated that Iran granted special permission for Iraqi oil tankers to cross the Strait of Hormuz, citing Iran's official IRNA agency. It noted that this was a result of repeated requests from Baghdad and was a key issue during the visit of Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to Iraq.

Right

22 rated outlets

  • The right-rated reports from Times of India and Yonhap News Agency both stated that Iran granted permission for Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Times of India report described this as a "pivotal step" following diplomatic requests from Baghdad and highlighted its importance during the Iranian parliament speaker's visit. Yonhap News Agency reported that Iran "partially allowed" Iraqi oil tankers transit.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz?
Of the 48 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 21% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 46% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 92. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 48 rated outlets on this story, 21% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 46% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz biased?
Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz is one event reported by 92 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Iran Grants Iraq Special Passage for Oil Tankers Through Hormuz?
92 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why did Iran grant special permission to Iraqi oil tankers?
Iran granted special permission for Iraqi oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad. This issue was a key point of discussion during the visit of Iran's parliament speaker to Iraq.
How have Iraq's oil exports been affected?
Iraq's crude oil exports have fallen sharply, averaging about 1.4 million barrels per day in July. This is a significant decrease compared to previous periods, with only seven commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
What alternative export routes is Iraq considering?
Iraq is pursuing alternative export routes, including a proposed pipeline to Syria's Baniyas port. This project is estimated to cost at least $15 billion and is expected to take four years to complete.

Read it at the source

92 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

10
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Centre

16
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Right

22
Show 14 more

Not rated

44
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Iran grants Iraq passage for oil tankers | MediaBias News