A yacht, owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov, managed to make it across the blockaded Strait of Hormuzbecause neither the Iran nor the USA objected, said a source close to Mordashov.
It is not clear how the multi-deck Nord, 142 meters long and worth more than $500 million, obtained permission to sail Saturday through this seaway, at the heart of the US-Iran war. Since the start of the war on February 28, traffic in the Straits has essentially been cut off.
Flying under the Russian flag, the yacht sailed through the Straits on an approved route under international maritime law, the source said.
“Iran did not interfere with the movements of the yacht as it is a civilian vessel of a friendly country making a peaceful transit. The US side also did not raise questions about the movement of the yacht, as it did not approach Iranian ports and has nothing to do with Iran,” the source said.
The yacht set sail on Friday from a Dubai marina, crossed the Straits on Saturday morning and arrived in Muscat early Sunday morning, according to data on the MarineTraffic platform.
Since the beginning of the war, only a few, mainly commercial ships sail daily through this crucial waterway at the entrance of the Gulf as the Washington and Tehran are in a fragile truce. This represents a fraction of the average of 125 to 140 daily crossings before the Iran war began on February 28.
The $500 million superyacht Nord, linked to Alexey Mordashov, reportedly transited the Strait of Hormuz via an Iran-designated safe lane near Larak Island amid ongoing maritime restrictions. pic.twitter.com/qldp1RqVjy
— LAFDA NEWS GLOBAL (@LafdaNewsGlobal) April 27, 2026
Russia and Iran are longtime allies and have grown even closer in recent years, including through a 2025 treaty that boosts intelligence-sharing and security cooperation.
Meeting Aragchi – Putin
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to St. Petersburg on Monday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin today following talks with mediators in Pakistan and Oman last weekend.
Mordashov, known as a close associate of Putin, is not officially listed as the owner of the Nord yacht. However, vessel movement data and Russian corporate data from 2025 show that the vessel was registered to a Russian company owned by his wife in 2022. This company is registered in the Russian city of Cherepovets, where Mordasov’s Severstal steelworks is also registered.
RES – MEB
