Outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said the Islamic Republic opened its first oil terminal in the Gulf of Oman, a move that will allow it to avoid using the Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades, Al Jazeera reports.

“This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports,” Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday, July 22.

The new terminal is located near Jask port on the Gulf of Oman, just south of the Strait of Hormuz, allowing ships headed into the Arabian Sea and beyond to avoid the narrow route. Iran’s main oil export terminal is located at the port of Kharg inside the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway less than 40 kilometres 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”.

“Today, the first shipment of 100 tons of oil is loaded outside the Strait of Hormuz. This shows the failure of the U.S. sanctions,” he said.

Rouhani said Iran aimed to export one million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the new facility. At the moment, the project allows 350,000 barrels to be exported per day.

Iran produced 2.47 bpd in June, according to latest available figures from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Iran has also built a 1,000km (600 miles) pipeline to carry its crude to the new terminal in the southeast from Goreh in Bushehr province.