US destroys Iranian naval and mine-laying vessels near Strait of Hormuz
Middle East tensions flared after CENTCOM said it had struck 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz amid fears Tehran was moving to disrupt a vital global oil route.
CNN reported, citing social media posts from US Central Command (CENTCOM), that US forces had destroyed Iranian naval vessels, including 16 mine-laying craft, near the Strait of Hormuz after intelligence sources said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), together with the Iranian navy, had begun laying mines in the strategic waterway.
The strait is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with roughly one-fifth of global crude oil supplies passing through it.
The IRGC and the Iranian navy still retain the capability to deploy mine-laying vessels, explosive drone boats and shore-based missile launch sites, and have warned that any ship attempting to pass through the strait would be attacked.
In recent days, dozens of mines have reportedly been laid in the Strait of Hormuz, although not yet across a broad enough area to seal it off completely. The report added that Iran still retains 80 to 90% of its small boats and minelayers, leaving it with the capacity to deploy hundreds of mines in the waterway.
US President Donald Trump later posted on his Truth Social platform, warning that such actions would bring consequences on a scale never seen before. CENTCOM subsequently released footage of strikes on Iranian naval vessels, including mine-laying craft.
Following Trump’s post, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X that, acting on Trump’s orders, CENTCOM had destroyed inactive mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz with ruthless precision, and said the US would not allow what he described as terrorists to hold the waterway hostage.
