WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Tuesday that the “International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz” were completely de-mined and “every square inch” of the waterway is now being monitored by the US Space Force for any potential new explosives.
Trump said in a Truth Social Post that the US Navy had swept the strait and detonated or removed the mines and that any new ones identified by Space Force would be detonated as well.
“Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” the president noted. “Through Space Force, we are watching every square inch of the Strait, as we are, also, with Pickaxe Mountain and the already destroyed three other Nuclear sites.”
“There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect,” Trump added. A source told The Post that the number of mines, their types and locations were a closely held secret.
US officials told Axios that the president was referring to the middle lane of the strait, known as the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), where more than 100 objects suspected to be mines were recovered by the Navy.
The officials also said that private companies had been contracted by the Department of War to assist in the de-mining operation in the median lane.
CENTCOM declined to elaborate. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump and administration officials have consistently remarked that exports are flowing out of the critical oil chokepoint.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed Friday that the “7-day average of oil leaving the Strait is over 8 million barrels a day.” Very Large Crude Carriers house around 2 million barrels of oil per vessel, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
In the past 24 hours, at least 16 vessels have transited the strait, according to ship tracking data, amid a US naval blockade against Iranian ships exiting the channel.
The southern lane that hugs the coast of Oman has been used by US military ships to escort tankers in and out of the Gulf.
Oman foreign affairs minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al-Busaidi said on X an hour later that the Gulf nation was working with Iran on “a temporary joint navigation corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to clear the Strait of mines.”
The two nations met for discussions in Tehran, with Iranian foreign minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi agreeing with the Omani official about plans for “a permanent navigation corridor and future arrangements for managing the Strait, alongside establishing a mechanism for exchanging information, managing navigation traffic, and providing related navigational and security services.”
