Washington, March 10 – The U.S. Central Command reported Tuesday that it had “destroyed” 16 Iranian naval mines near the Strait of Hormuz. This action comes as President Donald Trump warned that any mines placed by Iran in the vital waterway must be removed immediately.
Earlier, Trump stated that the United States had “totally destroyed” 10 inactive mine-laying vessels.
Responding to media reports alleging Iran had begun deploying mines in the critical oil shipping lane, Trump said on his Truth Social platform, “If Iran has placed any mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and we have no reports of that, they must be removed immediately!”
He added that failure to comply would result in military consequences, though he did not elaborate.
Trump explained that the U.S. Is utilizing the same technology used to combat drug smugglers “to permanently eliminate any boat or ship attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz.”
In recent months, the United States has conducted a series of raids on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, claiming they were carrying narcotics, resulting in dozens of deaths.
The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) had previously announced it was targeting Iranian mine-laying ships and storage facilities.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has effectively halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. The disruption to global energy supplies underscores the escalating tensions in the region.
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General Dan Kane, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated earlier Tuesday that the U.S. Military had begun evaluating potential options for accompanying ships through the strait, should orders be given.
“We are looking at a range of options,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.
However, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the U.S. Navy has been rejecting near-daily requests from the maritime shipping sector for military escorts for vessels transiting the strait, citing the currently high risk of attack.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted on X Tuesday that the Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the strait, but later deleted the post.
White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt later told reporters Tuesday, in response to a question on the matter, that the United States has not yet accompanied any oil tankers or ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy said, “A post from Secretary Wright’s official X account was deleted after ministry staff determined the accompanying comment was inaccurate.”
Commenting on Wright’s statements, Ali Mohammad Naini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, denied accompanying any oil tankers.
“Our missiles and drones will stop any movement by the American fleet and its allies,” Naini said in statements carried by Iranian state media.
(Prepared by Ali Khfaji for the Arabic bulletin)
