U.S. Warns of Mines as Iran Threatens Forces Entering Hormuz Corridor

A day after President Trump announced a U.S. effort to guide neutral ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, the Joint Maritime Information Center warned mariners on Monday to avoid the strait’s usual routes, and Iran’s military threatened to attack American forces entering the waterway. CBS News reported that the Joint Maritime Information Center set up an “enhanced security area” south of typical shipping lanes and said that passing near the usual routes “should be considered extremely hazardous” because of unsurveyed mines.

Major General Ali Abdollahi of Iran’s central command said any foreign armed force, “especially the aggressive U.S. military,” that enters the strait “will be targeted and attacked,” and, a day earlier, the chair of the parliament’s security commission called American interference a violation of the ceasefire, CBS reported. The ceasefire began April 7.

U.S. Central Command had said Sunday that the operation, named Project Freedom, would involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members, CBS reported, without saying whether the Navy would escort individual ships.

The warning about mines underscores why shipping has been slow to return. Traffic is down more than 90 percent since the conflict began, according to the Royal Navy, as quoted by CBS. Iran says ships unconnected to the United States or Israel may pass if they pay a toll, and the Treasury Department has warned that paying could violate U.S. sanctions.

Both sides continue to talk through Pakistani mediators. Trump said Sunday that negotiations were going “very well,” CBS reported, after calling Iran’s 14-point reply unsatisfactory on Saturday. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said the United States faces a choice between an “impossible” military operation and a deal.

The president told congressional leaders on Friday that hostilities had ended, a position Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rejected, CBS reported.

The economic stakes are large. Analysts cited by Fortune said this weekend that oil inventories in wealthy countries could hit operational minimums between May 9 and May 30 if the strait stays shut.