“We are now beginning the process of clearing the Strait of Hormuz”Trump wrote on social media on Saturday. The US Regional Command for the Middle East (Centcom) announced in the evening that it had begun a naval operation to clear sea mines.
Two destroyers passed through the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf, Centcom said in a statement.
Iran warned the US in the afternoon against transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. “If the ship’s movement continues, it will be attacked within 30 minutes,” Iran told the news agency Tasnim according to the USA.
Iran complained to Pakistan
A few days ago, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards declared an area of the strait as a danger zone and warned of mines in shipping routes. The Iranian delegation, which is conducting peace talks with the USA in Islamabad, lodged a complaint with mediator Pakistan.
AxiosReporter Barak Ravid, citing a US government official, had previously reported that several US Navy ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz. The move was not coordinated with Iran. Data from the tracking service Vesselfinder showed a US government ship with an unspecified type designation – as is common in the military – in the Persian Gulf.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean and thus the region’s major oil producing countries with world markets. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), almost 30 percent of the oil shipped worldwide was transported here in 2023.
Iran has seized control of the strait since the war began. Their opening is a central point of contention in the negotiations in Pakistan.
For the first time, three supertankers in the strait
According to shipping data, three supertankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the ceasefire. According to LSEG data, the Liberian-flagged “Serifos” and the Chinese ships “Cospearl Lake” and “He Rong Hai” bypass the Iranian island of Larak.