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Hormuz mine dispute
US President Donald Trump said the US Navy has removed or detonated all sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and warned, “Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed.”
““Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” Trump declared”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected that claim, saying the strait “remains closed” despite a temporary transit-route agreement with Oman.
Gharibabadi added, “No one except Iran knows the location of these mines,” and dismissed Trump’s comments as “only aimed at calming the markets.”
The Al Jazeera report also said Iran and Oman agreed to implement a joint project to clear mines from the strait, while analysts cited by the outlet said the US assessment that mines have been cleared from key shipping lanes is likely credible but not proof the waterway is completely mine-free.
It noted that before the war began, approximately 130 ships passed through the strait each day, transporting about one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies from Gulf producers.
Insurance and risk
The Al Jazeera report said war-risk insurance costs for ships traversing the waterway have soared since the war began, citing an S&P Global report from July that premiums rose from between 1 and 3 percent of a ship’s hull value to between 7.5 and 10 percent of hull value.
It warned that even if key lanes are cleared, “drifting” or uncharted mines could remain outside heavily monitored shipping lanes, and it said Iran retains the ability to lay more.
The AP account framed the Strait of Hormuz as a top US concern after six months of war, saying the waterway was a vital shipping lane through which about 20% of the world’s oil passed.
AP also described how Iran seized on the strait as a chokepoint and that it has been largely closed since the war started, driving up prices for fuel and fertilizer needed for farms and creating economic and political pressure in the U.S.
In the same AP report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” that “No negotiations are happening right now, and this will continue until the president feels that maybe they come to the table in a meaningful way,” tying the shipping risk to the lack of an off-ramp.
US goals shift
AP said that when President Donald Trump launched the war with Iran in late February, he initially forecast it would last four to five weeks, but six months later there is still no off-ramp in sight.
““It’s a functioning strait. Yes, every once in a while, there’ll be a drone or a rocket or something shot”
It reported that one prime goal now is reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which AP said was not one of Trump’s original objectives, and it described how Trump has repeatedly said the strait is open.
AP quoted Trump saying, “It’s a functioning strait. Yes, every once in a while, there’ll be a drone or a rocket or something shot, but it is a very functioning strait,” during an interview on Wednesday on conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s radio show.
The Al Jazeera report said Iran’s National Defence Council had warned that any attempt by “the enemy” to target Iranian coasts or islands would lead to the mining of the Strait of Hormuz, and it described subsequent warnings and reports of suspected mines near the strait.
Together, the two accounts set the stakes for shipping and diplomacy: AP said the strait has been largely closed since the war started, while Al Jazeera said the prospect of renewed open warfare remains without a ceasefire agreement and with the US announcing an “economic D-Day” of sanctions against Iran.