Axios, citing U.S. officials and sources familiar with the matter, said the navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps added mines in the strait. The U.S. military detected the activity and is monitoring it, the report said.
The report follows earlier accounts last month of mine-laying in the strait. Axios said additional mines could further complicate efforts to restore normal shipping. A U.S. official did not disclose how many mines were added, and the White House declined to comment, citing intelligence sensitivities.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key corridor that in peacetime carries about 20% of global seaborne crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Since the war, traffic has plunged. Axios reported that passages that once exceeded 100 ships a day have fallen to single digits on most recent days.
Reuters reported last month that Iran laid about 12 mines in the strait. A source said the mines were installed over several days and that many locations had been identified.
President Donald Trump ordered a tougher posture. The Associated Press reported that Trump on April 23 directed U.S. forces to fire on and sink Iranian small boats if they lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz. He also said U.S. mine-clearing operations would be expanded to three times their current level.
U.S. deployments have also increased. Axios reported that the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group arrived in the U.S. Central Command area. AP reported the number of U.S. aircraft carriers in the region has risen to three. The United States has also deployed underwater drones and expanded mine-clearing operations, according to the reports.
Iran has kept up pressure with threats involving fast boats and attacks on commercial shipping. Reuters reported that Iran recently used fast boats to detain two container ships near the strait, and said the Guard’s small, high-speed craft are being used to threaten maritime traffic alongside mines, missiles, drones and electronic warfare. AP reported that the Guard recently attacked three cargo ships.
The central issue remains reopening the strait. The United States views guarantees of safe passage for international shipping as one condition in negotiations. Iran, meanwhile, is demanding an end to what it describes as a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and vessels. If mines have been added as Axios reported, the strait could increasingly be treated not merely as restricted waters but as a hazardous zone requiring military clearance operations.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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