CENTCOM Says U.S. Forces Have Cleared Iranian Mines From Hormuz Routes

U.S. Central Command said Thursday that it has cleared Iranian sea mines from the internationally recognized transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz, The Hill reported; the clearance is the command’s own claim and The Hill did not independently verify it. In a video posted to X, Adm. Brad Cooper, the command’s chief, called it “a major milestone in the Strait of Hormuz.” The mines had been laid months earlier by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, The Hill said.

The announcement follows a claim by President Trump on Tuesday. He posted on Truth Social that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated” from international waters in the strait, citing the U.S. Navy, and that any “ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” Al-Monitor reported. Trump had made a similar statement on Aug. 18, saying Hormuz was “open and operating.”

About an hour after Trump’s post on Tuesday, Oman’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, had agreed on a framework that includes a joint temporary navigational corridor and a joint project to clear the strait of mines, Al-Monitor reported. Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Oman if it reaches a deal that would legitimize Iran’s control over the strait.

The U.S. military said in April that it had begun sweeping for mines around Hormuz, using destroyers, littoral combat ships and autonomous undersea drones, a little over a month after the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran, Al-Monitor reported. The Navy has reportedly been quietly escorting tankers through a channel along Oman’s coast. Al-Monitor noted that in March Pentagon officials said Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones, not naval mines, were the main threat to shipping in the strait.

Al-Monitor cautioned that demining is painstaking, with few guarantees that every munition is recovered across a strait spanning roughly 241,000 square kilometers. Shipping remains constrained by other threats. After midnight Tuesday an unidentified projectile struck an oil tanker about nine nautical miles northeast of Ash-Shishan, Oman, and the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported no crew casualties.

The restricted traffic has pushed up energy prices for American drivers. The Hill reported that AAA put the average U.S. price of regular gasoline at about $4.10 a gallon, against about $3.21 a year earlier, and that if Central Command’s claim holds, ship traffic would likely ease.

The Hill also noted that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries on Monday to cut all financial ties to Iran or risk losing access to the U.S. dollar system, launching an economic pressure campaign called “Operation Economic Outcast.”