The US military has identified that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) laid additional naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week, according to Axios.
The mines are being deployed using small boats. The exact number of newly placed mines, as well as the total number in the strait, remains unknown.
According to the outlet’s sources, US forces began monitoring Iranian activity after detecting these actions.
In response, Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social. He ordered the Navy to ‘shoot and destroy’ any Iranian vessels laying mines without hesitation. The US president also instructed them to “continue this operation, but three times more intensively.”
The appearance of new mines in the Strait of Hormuz threatens to deepen the global oil market crisis and could lead to the largest supply disruption in history.
Previously, a senior Pentagon official stated that it could take up to six months to fully clear the strait of naval mines.
Such an operation could only begin after the end of the war between the United States and Iran.
For the future clearing of the waters, commanders are considering the use of helicopters, unmanned systems, and specialized diver units. Ukrainian vessels may also take part in the mine-clearing effort.
IRGC forces began laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz in a sporadic manner using small boats immediately after the start of hostilities by the United States and Israel against Iran in March 2026.
US sources say the Iranians likely did not record the precise coordinates of each mine.
Additionally, sea currents may have displaced the mines, or they may have been deployed in a way that makes them easily movable from the outset.
