Trump says US has destroyed mine-laying vessels after warning Iran over Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US military shot down and “completely destroyed” 10 inactive mine-laying ships and warned that the mines laid by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz should be removed immediately.
In response to media reports that Iran had begun planting mines in the strait, Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday: “If Iran has planted mines in the Strait of Hormuz and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed IMMEDIATELY!
Tehran would face military consequences if it did not do so, he said, without elaborating.
“If for some reason mines are placed and not removed immediately, the military consequences for Iran will be unprecedented. On the other hand, if they remove those that may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!” Trump wrote.
He said the US used the same technology used against drug traffickers to “permanently eliminate any boat or ship attempting to mine in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that the US later shot down and destroyed 10 inactive mine-laying ships.
In recent months, the United States has launched a series of attacks on ships it claimed were carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing dozens of people.
The Pentagon announced earlier on Tuesday that Iran had hit mine-laying ships and mine storage facilities.
The US-Israeli war against Iran has effectively halted shipments via the Strait of Hormuz along the Iranian coast, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass.
AFTER DELETION
The US military has begun exploring ways to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz if ordered to do so, the top US general said early Tuesday.
“We’re looking at a number of options here,” Gen. Dan Caine told reporters at the Pentagon.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright reported on X that the US Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the main waterway, but later deleted the post.
The United States has not yet escorted any oil tankers or ships through the Strait of Hormuz, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a news conference later Tuesday when asked about the issue.
“A video clip has been deleted from Minister Wright’s official X account after it was determined that it was incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff,” a ministry spokesperson said.
Commenting on Wright’s remarks, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard denied that an oil ship had been escorted.
“Any movement of the US fleet and its allies will be stopped by our missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles,” Ali Mohammad Naini said in his comments published in Iranian state media.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Jasper Ward and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Elwely Elwelly in Dubai; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Chris Reese and Rosalba O’Brien)
