One of the reasons Iran has been unable to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite the two-week pause in the war, could be its inability to locate the sea mines and, more importantly, remove them.
A New York Times report cited US officials as saying that Iran’s limited capability to track and clear the mines is one of the reasons it has not been able to comply with US warnings.
The report comes as US Vice President JD Vance lands in Islamabad for peace talks with Iran, scheduled to take place over the weekend. The Strait of Hormuz is expected to be one of the key issues discussed during the talks, according to several media reports.
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The US wants Iran to reopen the Strait immediately, with President Donald Trump reiterating this demand on his Truth Social account as a key condition for ending the war. Meanwhile, AFP reported that Iran, in its ten-point proposal, has sought control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Mines are one of the key factors ships fear going through Hormuz
Iran placed both land and nautical mines in the Hormuz, one of the key routes through which energy supply goes to the world from oil-rich Gulf countries, in order to put pressure on the US and the Gulf coutries to end aggression on its soil. Hormuz has been closed for over a month now as ships fear mines and drone, missile attacks. This has resulted in countries, including India, face energy crisis at home.
How do these mines work? Read here
In late March, President Donald Trump paused attacks on Iran’s energy sites, setting a deadline for Tehran to accept a peace proposal that included the immediate reopening of the Hormuz. He later extended the deadline before Pakistan stepped in as a mediator to broker a fragile two-week pause in the war.
However, the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. In Islamabad, it is likely to be one of the most contentious issues between the US and Iran.
The New York Times report states that Iran placed the mines haphazardly in the Strait, citing US officials. “It is not clear that Iran recorded where it put every mine. And even when the locations were recorded, some mines were placed in a way that allowed them to drift or move,” the report said. It added that removing the mines is far more difficult than placing them, and that even US military forces have limited capabilities to clear them.
“The US military lacks robust mine-removal capabilities, relying on littoral combat ships equipped with minesweeping systems. Iran also does not have the capability to quickly remove mines, even those it planted,” the report said.
