US plays ‘mine games’ over Hormuz: Iranian mines gone, but is the strait safe?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "US plays ‘mine games’ over Hormuz: Iranian mines gone, but is the strait safe?")
This picture shows ships sailing near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan on July 13, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
The US says it cleared Iranian sea mines from the Strait of Hormuz, but tanker trackers and experts question Washington’s claims, raising doubts over whether the key waterway is truly safe.
The United States says it has achieved a major breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz. But the bigger question is whether Washington’s declaration that the crucial waterway is now free of Iranian sea mines matches the reality faced by commercial ships.
US Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper on Thursday (Aug 27) claimed that American forces had cleared Iranian mines from internationally recognised shipping routes. “We have successfully cleared sea mines in the strait’s international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said.
Did US really clear mines from Hormuz?
The Pentagon’s confidence rests on an operation in which more than 200 mine-like objects were removed from the main shipping lane. However, according to an Axios report citing US officials, 11 of them were actually mines, with just a few properly deployed. That distinction matters when assessing how serious the threat was – and how much the operation has truly changed conditions.
President Donald Trump offered an emphatic assessment: “That sucker is open. The Iranian response is very mild. They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game. The rest doesn’t matter,” he told Axios.
Are US shipping claims overstated?
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
But oil experts and tanker trackers remain sceptical of US claims that traffic has recovered as strongly as officials suggest. Washington says 20 to 30 tankers are now crossing the southern channel each night, carrying around 9 to 10 million barrels of oil. That is still only about half the pre-war volume.
Iran rejects US control
Iran, meanwhile, has rejected the idea that US military control guarantees lasting security. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned: “In a region where we don’t sell oil, no one else will sell oil either.”
He has also argued that the security of the Strait of Hormuz depends on the “absence” of US troops.
The dispute exposes the larger problem. Clearing mines may reopen a physical passage, but does it make the Strait of Hormuz genuinely secure?
With tankers still reportedly coming under attack and oil flows below normal levels, Washington’s declaration of victory may be premature. The real test will not be what US officials say has been cleared – but how many ships are willing to sail through the strait.
