Iran is laying new mines in the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating tensions with the US
The Iranian naval unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has deployed additional mines in the Strait of Hormuz. This was reported by Axios, citing a US official and a source familiar with the situation.
Tensions in the region are escalating. According to these reports, Iran is laying mines and attacking commercial vessels, whilst the United States is tightening its naval blockade.
Upon receiving information about Iran’s new actions, US President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to “shoot and destroy” any Iranian boats laying mines “without hesitation”. He wrote this on the social media platform Truth Social.
The report notes that the new mine-laying could exacerbate disruptions to oil supplies, which the International Energy Agency has already described as the worst in the history of the global market, worse than the oil crises of the 1970s.
In peacetime, around 20 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Currently, vessel traffic has fallen to just a handful per day, whereas previously it exceeded 100 vessels daily.
This is the second instance of Iran laying mines in the strait since the start of the war. It is not known whether all the mines laid previously have been detected and defused.
According to sources, the US military has recorded the mining operation and is monitoring it. However, the exact number of new mines has not been disclosed. The White House declined to comment on intelligence matters.
On the same day, the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush arrived in the US Central Command’s area of responsibility, accompanied by a strike group. This is the third US aircraft carrier in the region, which, according to sources, strengthens the blockade of Iran and expands US capabilities in the event of a resumption of hostilities.
US Central Command reported that 33 vessels have been diverted since the blockade began.
US officials also noted that the Navy is using underwater drones for mine-clearing operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump stated that these actions should continue, but “three times as intensely”.
