US forces ‘got the job done’ in clearing mines from Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM boss says

NAPLES, Italy — Iranian sea mines have been cleared from transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz, the top U.S. commander in the region said Friday in a social media post that praised the “incredible work of the U.S. military.”

Navy divers and SEALs working in conjunction with air support from the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy removed the deadly weapons from the vital commercial waterway, U.S. Central Command leader Adm. Brad Cooper said in a video posted on X.

“The circumstances were challenging and dangerous to say the least, but we got the job done,” Cooper said. “Bottom line, today international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building.”

The mine threat is one reason why commercial shipping traffic has been drastically reduced in the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s total oil supply.

Iran, which has also fired drones and missiles at commercial vessels in the strait, sees the waterway as crucial leverage in its war against the United States, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes in late February.

There are 50,000 American service members and more than 20 Navy ships operating across the region, Cooper said.

American forces have provided coordinated protection to facilitate the transit of nearly 1,500 commercial vessels through the strait, according to Cooper.

Those ships were carrying nearly 750 million barrels of crude oil destined for global energy markets, he added. Hours later, President Donald Trump posted an image titled “U.S. Territories” on his Truth Social account depicting a map with a circled Strait of Hormuz labeled “NEW.” The image also included the flags of other U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam.

In a post earlier this week, Trump said he had been informed that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump said Tehran had been notified that “any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” adding that “There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect.”

News of the mine-clearing operation comes amid stalled negotiations to end the war, reopen the strait and check Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Last week, Trump said the U.S. was not in talks with Iran, and none had been scheduled following the lapse of a 60-day deadline to reach an agreement.

As of Aug. 18, there have been at least seven attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz during the month, including a vessel struck by an unknown projectile that resulted in a crew casualty, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center, a British military organization that monitors threats to commercial shipping in the region, said last week.

All told, 61 vessels have been damaged and 25 people injured or killed in attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman between Feb. 28 and Aug. 20, according to the center’s report.

The report didn’t include some more recent attacks, including a Kuwaiti-flagged tanker struck Tuesday by an unknown projectile above the waterline resulting in a small hole and a fire put out by the crew, as reported by the American-led Joint Maritime Information Center.

Cooper did not say when mine-clearing operations started or how many mines had been cleared. They were laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps months ago, he said.

He also did not indicate how long the U.S. had been offering coordinated protection to commercial ships or detail any such operation.

The Joint Maritime Information Center, which has tallied U.S. assistance of Strait of Hormuz crossings since at least mid-June, reported there had been 37 such transits from Tuesday to Wednesday this week.

The historical average is 138 daily transits through the key waterway situated in Iranian and Omani waters from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, according to the center.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center report detailed 2,457 transits in and out of the strait from Feb. 28 through Aug. 20.

In addition to operations in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military had redirected 75 commercial vessels and disabled three others since resuming its blockade of Iranian ports in July, Cooper said.

“No ships have entered or left an Iranian port without our permission, and we have only allowed ships to pass through on humanitarian grounds,” he said.

No Iranian oil has been exported since resumption of the blockade, he added.