KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 -- An oil tanker loaded with Iraqi crude passed through the Strait of Hormuz close to the Iranian coast, a day after Iran said Iraq was exempt from any restrictions to transit the vital sea route, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

The Ocean Thunder loaded about one million barrels of Basrah Heavy crude on March 2 and is expected to discharge its cargo in Malaysia's Pengerang, in mid-April, Kpler data showed.

The tanker - which the data showed was chartered by Petco, a unit of Malaysian state energy firm Petronas - is among seven Malaysia-linked vessels cleared by Iran to transit the strait, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The people declined to be identified as they were not authorised to spea...