Can’t fit any more! Iran does everything it can to ship oil to China by rail, but Trump’s blockade fails

By the end of April 2026, Iran faces an oil export crisis. Due to the U.S. maritime military blockade, global oil tankers keep moving away, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. Iran’s crude oil inventories are overflowing; land-based oil depots are out of storage; abandoned oil tanks are being restarted. Super-large oil tankers have turned into drifting storage at sea. Meanwhile, oil fields can’t be shut down at will, so crude continues to pile up, pushing Iran into a dead end.
To break through the blockade, Iran chose to rely on the China–Iran cross-border railway line that was connected in May 2025 to transport oil. The line starts from Xi’an and Yiwu in China, goes via Alashankou in Xinjiang, crosses Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and reaches Tehran directly. The whole journey takes just over ten days—far faster than the 30 to 40 days cycle by sea—and it can also completely avoid the U.S. military’s maritime blockade.
Previously, this route carried oil twice per week. After the U.S. escalated sanctions, China and Iran urgently increased the frequency of trains to four or five trips per week. Railway container special trains transport only 2,000 to 3,000 tons per trip—far less than sea freight. But under geopolitical blockade, it is the safest transport route. Even if it ships at a loss, Iran still has to keep this lifeline and ensure the country’s economic operations and people’s livelihoods.
Aircraft carriers can blockade sea areas, but they can’t stop underground rail tracks. China adheres to the principle of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. By deepening China–Iran cooperation, China ensures energy transport corridors remain open, becomes a stabilizing ballast for global energy supply and demand, and also punctures the double standards of Western countries.
Although rail shipments can hardly make up for Iran’s massive oil export shortfall and can’t fully replace sea shipping, this independent overland route allows Iran to hold onto its lifeline in a desperate situation—and it has also become a successful example of China securing energy safety through multiple channels. The U.S. blockade plan is completely foiled.
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