A World War II-era naval mine detonates in the Baltic Sea after being discovered and rigged for demolition by Norwegian explosive ordnance disposal teams during the BALTOPS 2019 exercise. Italy's defense ministry said Wednesday there are dozens of mines in the Strait of Hormuz that will take about two months to clear, while the International Maritime Organization estimated the number at about 80. (Shannon E. Renfroe/U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — There are dozens of sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz that will require months to remove once clearance efforts begin, the Italian defense ministry said Wednesday.
Removal of the sophisticated mines will require advanced capabilities and expertise not possessed by many countries, Giovanni Iannucci, commander of Italy’s Joint Operations Command, told members of the Italian house and senate foreign affairs and defense committees.
He estimated mine-clearing operations would take about two months, according to a report by the Italian news agency ANSA.
But with a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire and little sign that peace talks are gaining traction, there is no concrete timeline for when those efforts will begin, the head of the International Maritime Organization warned Friday.
The effort would be further delayed by the necessary evacuation of 500 stranded ships and their crews before operations to remove an estimated 80 sea mines from the critical artery could start, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told reporters during an online news briefing.
Dominguez estimated that evacuation efforts would take a few weeks. The IMO paused evacuation efforts following Iran’s attacks on ships in the strait last week.
Iannucci’s and Dominguez’s comments offer the clearest picture yet of the number of Iranian mines that may be in the strait and how long it could take to restore the free flow of traffic through the waterway, which carries crude oil, liquefied natural gas, agricultural fertilizers and other vital products around the world.
In April, a senior Pentagon official told members of the House Armed Services Committee during a classified briefing it would take as long as six months to remove 20 or more sea mines from the about 104-mile-long strait. At the time, the Defense Department acknowledged the disclosure was made but said the information was inaccurate.
President Donald Trump has said American forces already have been searching for mines in the strait, and, in recent weeks, the U.S. has quietly helped ships through the area.
For example, some 46 vessels transited the waterway on Sunday and Monday with U.S. assistance, the Joint Maritime Information Center reported Tuesday.
The statements also came as the U.S. and Iran continued indirect peace talks through mediators Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha.
Over the weekend, Iran launched attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. military installations in the Middle East. The U.S. answered with strikes against Iranian military sites in and around the strait.
A key sticking point in the talks is Iran’s insistence that it has the right to charge tolls for ships transiting the strategic maritime corridor. The U.S. maintains that traveling through the strait should be free, as it was before the war began in February.
Meanwhile, planning for a multinational security mission in the strait has intensified, with Italy, France, Germany and the U.K. among countries positioning minesweepers, destroyers and other military assets near the strait.
European leaders have offered to take a prominent role in the mission but have indicated their forces will not enter the strait until they have assurances that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire will hold.
Military officials and analysts say reopening the strait will require a lengthy operation likely involving American, European and regional forces, along with civilian maritime organizations.
The security mission potentially could last for years, analysts said.
