U.S. Says It Has Cleared Mines in the Strait of Hormuz... Warns Iran, "If You Lay Them Again, They Will Be Destroyed"

[Financial News] The U.S. military said it has removed all mines laid by Iranian Armed Forces in the international shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz. Along with the mine-clearing operation, the United States said it escorted merchant ships and helped transport about 750 million barrels of crude oil, while also blocking Iran's oil exports.
Brad Cooper, commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), said in a video posted on X on the 28th local time that the operation to remove Iranian mines from the international shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz had been successfully completed.
Cooper called it a "major milestone" and said, "Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the U.S. military, the internationally recognized transit route is now completely free from the danger of Iranian mines."
The U.S. military cleared mines from a route on the traffic separation scheme (TSS) used by merchant ships before the war. The Strait of Hormuz is only about 21 nautical miles, or roughly 40 kilometers, at its narrowest point, and there is no high seas area because the territorial waters of Iran and Oman meet there.
Under the TSS designated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), ships have used the northern channel near Iranian territorial waters when entering the Gulf and the southern channel near Oman when leaving it. The waters wide enough for large vessels are only about 10 kilometers across, leaving each shipping lane just about 3 kilometers wide.
Cooper said, "Over the past few months, our forces have quietly and precisely eliminated the mine threat," adding, "We have finally completed an extremely difficult and dangerous mission." The operation involved naval divers, Navy SEALs, and air assets from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
U.S. President Donald Trump also said on the 25th via Truth Social that he had received a report from the USN saying all mines in the Strait of Hormuz had been removed and destroyed. Trump warned that any vessel attempting to lay new mines for Iran would be "destroyed immediately and systematically."
The U.S. military has also continued to provide military escort for merchant shipping as part of the mine-clearing effort. Cooper claimed that over the past several months, the U.S. military closely escorted merchant ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, allowing about 750 million barrels of crude oil to pass through the waterway.
At the same time, it has maintained a maritime blockade against Iran. Cooper said the blockade has prevented Iran from exporting any oil since mid-July and that 75 Iranian vessels that tried to pass through the blockade were eventually turned back.

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