Iran Struggles to Clear Mines in Strait of Hormuz

Iran is struggling to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to full shipping traffic after losing track of naval mines it deployed in the waterway last month, according to US officials, a development that has prolonged disruptions to global energy supplies and complicated ongoing peace negotiations.

The mines were laid using small boats shortly after the United States and Israel initiated military operations against Iran. US officials described the deployment as haphazard, with locations not fully recorded and some devices placed in ways that allowed them to drift with ocean currents. This has made locating and neutralizing the explosives far more challenging than planting them. Even advanced militaries, including the United States, rely on specialized vessels for mine clearance, and Iran lacks the equipment to perform such operations swiftly, the officials said.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, carries nearly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. Since the mining began, commercial shipping has plummeted, with only limited passage allowed through a narrow, designated corridor. Vessels must pay a toll to transit, and...