Myanmar’s military junta secretly imported jet fuel from Iran in three separate shipments before the outbreak of war involving the United States and Israel, according to a report by Japan-based Nikkei Asia citing internal sources. The shipments were delivered to the Myan Oil terminal near Yangon’s Thilawa Port, previously known as Puma, which serves as a jet fuel storage facility. Documents reviewed by Nikkei showed that the supplier vessel, MV Reef, falsely declared Iraq as the fuel’s origin. The ship, capable of carrying 18,376 tons or about 146,000 barrels of fuel, was suited for Yangon’s shallow waterways.

Sources told Nikkei that the junta imported an unusually large volume of jet fuel to sustain its military operations amid the ongoing civil conflict. Former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s ex-adviser, Australian economist Sean Turnell, confirmed the Iranian fuel supply as genuine and significant. He noted that Myanmar’s foreign reserves remain strained, and rising global fuel prices following the Iran war could deplete the junta’s surplus used for purchasing weapons from Russia, leaving it without a key supplier.

The report suggests Myanmar may now need to seek alternative fuel sources as sanctions and price surges intensify.