U.S. covert mission battles Iranian mines to reopen Hormuz shipping lane
U.S. forces have spent four months using divers, robots and specialized craft to locate and neutralize Iranian sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
For the past four months the United States has run a secretive demining effort in the Strait of Hormuz, deploying Navy SEAL divers, inflatable craft and autonomous vessels to hunt Iranian-laid sea mines. Divers work alongside sonar-equipped robot boats and submersibles that map the seabed, after which explosives are placed to detonate the devices. President Donald Trump declared that all mines in the strait’s international waters have been removed, a statement.S. military, yet maritime analysts and shipowners caution that safety cannot yet be guaranteed.
The International Maritime Organization estimated roughly 80 mines in key lanes, while Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned only Tehran knows their positions. The operation faces technical hurdles, the risk of re-mining, and the broader challenge of convincing commercial traffic that the route is secure amid ongoing missile and drone threats.
Why it matters
Clearing Hormuz is vital for global oil flow and shipping safety, but lingering mines and re-mining risks keep trade disrupted.
How this story developed
- Jul 20 U.S. and Iran intensify air strikes over Strait of Hormuz, diplomacy stalls
- Sep 4 The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Istanbul-based Golden Global Bank for moving Chinese-paid Iranian oil revenues to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, cutting a key financial channel.
- Sep 4 Vance is slated to speak on inflation and Iran at his first press briefing since July.
- Sep 4 The Treasury also added two Golden Global subsidiaries to the sanctions list.
- Sep 4 The Security Council is set to vote on extending the sanctions expert panel on September 17.
- Sep 5 Republican committees have filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the Fourth Circuit ruling.
- Sep 5 Trump said, "A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing."
- Sep 5 U.S. forces hit launchers on Larak Island and Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
- Sep 5 No injuries or deaths have been reported.
- Sep 5 U.S. Central Command announced the destruction of three Iran-linked oil tankers—M/T Downy off Kharg Island, M/T Stark 1 near Jask and M/T Kylo in the Gulf of Oman.
- Sep 6 AAA linked the price surge to elevated crude oil prices from the Iran war and instability in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Sep 6 Iran appealed to China, India and Russia for support at the SCO summit while Trump warned of further bombings.
- Sep 6 The UK regulator raised the energy price cap by 4%.
- Sep 6 He said Tehran’s response to US strikes would no longer be “proportionate”, adding that “the Americans have surely realised that the era of ‘proportionate responses’ has come to an end”.
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