Shortly before the freeze of the ultimatum: Iran’s threat to exploit the Persian Gulf

Shortly before the freeze of President Trump’s ultimatum, and while the United States is working to find ways to open the Strait of Hormuz and is even considering occupying the island of Kharg to further harm the Iranian regime, the Ayatollah regime responded today (Monday) with a sharp threat of its own. According to an announcement made by the regime’s Defense Council, Iran will harden all access routes to the Persian Gulf in response to American escalation.

“Any attempt to attack Iran’s coasts or its islands will lead to all access routes in the Persian Gulf being trapped by sea mines, including floating mines that can be released from the shore,” the statement said. “In that case, the entire gulf will effectively be in a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long time. Let’s not forget the failure of more than 100 mine sweeps in the 1980s to remove a small number of sea mines.”

In the New York Times it was reported about two weeks ago that Iran has already started laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the report, the mines were laid using small boats, this after the US military destroyed the larger ships that Iran could use to block the strait.

Mines laid in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s greatly damaged world trade at that time. It should be emphasized that now the Strait of Hormuz is practically closed to most ships. Trump threatened that if Iran decides to block Hormuz, he will increase the attacks against it.

Laying mines is an old and effective tactic, and it looks like it might be challenging for the United States to deal with. Iran has a wide variety of powerful naval mines, some simpler and some advanced, that can be deployed underwater or anchored to the seabed, and can be activated tens of meters below the surface. It should be emphasized that the laying of mines in the Strait of Hormuz may also harm Iran, which continues to export oil through the Strait even during the war.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Navy’s ability to deal with mines has greatly eroded in recent decades. While defense companies are developing advanced technologies to deal with the problem, they are still limited and have not been operationally tested. Also, according to estimates, additional time will be required for the US to transport to the Persian Gulf region the appropriate tools for clearing the mines.

Traditionally there are two main methods for clearing mines:

• Ships drag cables through the water to cut the chains or cables that anchor the mines to the bottom, so they rise to the surface and can be destroyed.
• Alternatively, special ships or aircraft simulate the magnetic fields, pressure or noise of a passing vessel, thus activating the mines in advance before they cause damage.
• A series of defense companies offer more advanced technologies to neutralize mines, but they have not yet been tested.

“The US Navy has neglected the field of mine clearance, and the limited number of tools at its disposal will make it difficult to reliably escort oil tankers in a hostile environment,” said Eliot Cohen, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to the Wall Street Journal.

According to the American newspaper, the US military planned to decommission 4 minesweeping ships, which leaves it with only 4 vessels dedicated to carrying out the mission only, which are located in Japan. The American forces also use dedicated mine-clearing helicopters, but they are also in the process of being decommissioned.