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Iran can no longer definitively identify the locations of the naval mines it laid in the Strait of Hormuz. Moreover, its capability to remove them is also limited—this has been reported by US officials.
Due to this situation, despite continuous pressure from the Trump administration, normal shipping in the strait cannot be restored quickly. Consequently, this emerging complexity is making the ongoing peace talks in Islamabad even more difficult.
Previously, soon after the United States and Israel began a war against Iran, Iran laid mines in the strait last month using small boats. These mines, along with the threat of Iranian drone and missile attacks, reduced the number of oil tankers and other vessels transiting the strait to almost zero, which drove up fuel prices and gave Iran its best bargaining chip in the war.
Iran has kept a path open through the strait, allowing vessels that pay a toll to transit.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued warnings that ships could collide with naval mines, and semi-official news agencies have also published lists of safe routes.
US officials stated that these paths are essentially limited because Iran laid mines randomly in the strait. It is unclear whether Iran kept a record of where each mine was placed. And according to officials, even if locations were recorded, some mines were placed in such a way that they could drift away.
He further added that, similar to landmines, naval mines are much harder to remove than to lay. The US military does not have strong mine removal capabilities; they rely on littoral combat ships capable of mine removal. He also claimed that Iran itself lacks the ability to quickly remove the mines it has laid.
Source: The New York Times.