Sputnik - Iran will begin exporting oil south along its Persian Gulf coast toward the Strait of Hormuz as soon as it completes the Goreh-Jask crude oil pipeline in March 2021, local media reported on Wednesday, citing Petroleum Engineering and Development Company CEO Touraj Dehghani.

The Goreh-Jask pipeline will run along a land route of about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) and be able to transport about one million barrels of oil per day. According to Dehghani, once the pipeline is completed, Iran will be able to switch from moving oil by water to exporting by land, the Mehr news agency said.

Dehghani added that Iran intended to set up several tanks in the Jask region with a total capacity of 20 million barrels to back oil exports from the regional oil terminal.

In this Sunday, July 21, 2019 photo, an aerial view shows a speedboat of Iran's Revolutionary Guard moving around the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero which was seized in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday by the Guard, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz has recently escalated as several oil tankers have been attacked there since May. The United States and its allies have blamed Iran for the incidents, while Tehran has denied its involvement. The tensions have prompted Washington to begin building up its military presence in the region.