Hormuz mine claims collide with shipping still at a standstill
US Central Command chief Brad Cooper said Hormuz's internationally recognised shipping lanes had been cleared of Iranian mines, a claim UPI could not independently verify. Tehran rejected the account and pointed to the absence of passing vessels, while Iranian officials tied reopening to demands including an end to the port blockade, compensation for war damage and sanctions relief. The competing accounts leave the reason for severely limited traffic unresolved.
Geopolitics··Evening
Washington said the lanes had been cleared
US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said in a video posted online that American forces had cleared the internationally recognised transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian sea mines. UPI said the claim could not be independently verified. Donald Trump also said he had been told that the Navy had cleared the mines and warned that vessels laying new ones would be destroyed. The statements sharpened Washington's position that the routes are physically usable.[1]
Tehran put conditions ahead of passage
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the strait remained closed because of both mines and Iranian military action, asking why not a single vessel was passing if the American account was accurate. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Washington would have to take practical steps before reopening. A Revolutionary Guard spokesperson listed an end to the port blockade, compensation for war damage and sanctions relief among Tehran's conditions.[1], [2]
Shipping traffic lagged behind the claims
Daily traffic through the strait, UPI reports, has fallen from about 140 vessels before the war to a handful. Qatar's talks in Tehran covered a temporary corridor and a joint mine-clearance project, while Iranian officials linked passage to wider war and sanctions demands. Washington maintains that millions of barrels of oil move through the waterway each day, while Tehran says no vessels are passing. The sharp drop in observed shipping continues amid the two sides' opposing accounts.[1], [2]
