Iran Publishes Mine Charts in Strait of Hormuz as Ceasefire Holds

Semiofficial Iranian news agencies released charts on Thursday indicating that the country's Revolutionary Guard had deployed sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz during recent hostilities, marking a potential danger zone in the key shipping lane as a fragile two-week ceasefire holds and negotiations loom in Pakistan.

The charts, published by ISNA and Tasnim, an outlet affiliated with the Guard, depicted a large area labeled "danger zone" in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme, the primary route for vessels navigating the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf. This strait once facilitated 20 percent of global oil and natural gas trade. The publications suggested ships reroute northward, closer to Iran's mainland near Larak Island, a path observed during the conflict. Dated from February 28 to April 9, the charts left unclear whether the Guard had removed the mines since the ceasefire began on Wednesday.

The release appeared aimed at pressuring the United States amid skepticism over the truce's durability. Ship-tracking data from Kpler recorded only four vessels with active Automatic Identification System signals transiting the strait on the ceasefire's first day, though this...