A small boat sails past Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 as it sits anchored after it was seized in July by British Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria. Photo: Reuters/Jon Nazca.

i24 News – Iran has opened its first oil export terminal outside the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint patrolled by warships of its arch-foe the United States, outgoing President Hassan Rouhani announced Thursday.

The new terminal is located near Jask port on the Gulf of Oman, allowing ships headed into the Arabian Sea and beyond to avoid the narrow strait.

Iran’s main oil export terminal is located at the port of Kharg inside the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway less than 40 km (25 miles) across at its narrowest point.

“We had a terminal and if there was a problem, our oil exports would be cut off,” Rouhani acknowledged, adding that “today is a great historic day for the Iranian nation.”

Iran is under heavy US sanctions since then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal in 2018, which have heavily impacted Iranian energy exports.

“The oil industry is very important for us, and it is also important for the enemy,” Rouhani said in televised comments.

Iran has built a 600 mile pipeline to carry its crude to the new terminal in the southeast from Goreh in Bushehr province.