President Donald Trump said on August 25 that the US Navy had removed or detonated all mines in international waters of the Strait of Hormuz. His announcement came shortly before Oman described a proposed navigation framework with Iran that included a joint project to clear mines, leaving uncertainty over the scope and status of demining work.
Trump made the claim on Truth Social and warned that any vessel laying new mines would be systematically destroyed. He added that US Space Force capabilities were monitoring the strait. It was at least the second time in a week that he had declared the waterway clear, following a similar August 18 post saying Hormuz was open and operating.
About an hour after the later statement, Oman's Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi and Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi had agreed on a plan for managing transit. The proposed framework involved a jointly operated temporary navigation corridor and a shared mine-clearance project. The Omani announcement's forward-looking language suggested further work remained despite Trump's description of completed US operations.
The US military began mine-sweeping in and around Hormuz in April, just over a month after the United States and Israel began their war with Iran. The effort used destroyers and littoral combat ships equipped with mine-countermeasure packages, including autonomous underwater systems. The supplied reporting did not include a detailed Navy inventory of mines found, destroyed or remaining.
Former US military officials noted that clearing maritime explosives is laborious and cannot easily guarantee that every device has been recovered. The Strait of Hormuz covers about 241,000 square kilometres, adding to the challenge. Pentagon officials said in March that Iranian missiles and drones, rather than mines, were the main threat to ships using the passage.
Other hazards remained evident. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that an unidentified projectile hit an oil tanker roughly nine nautical miles northeast of Oman's coast at Ash-Shishan shortly after midnight on August 25. No crew casualties were reported.
The Navy has also escorted commercial tankers through a route close to Oman's southern shore in an effort to keep petroleum moving. Washington opposes any Iran-Oman agreement that would legitimise Tehran's control and Trump has threatened action against Oman if it obstructs US aims.
Trump's claim therefore addressed mines in international waters, not every security risk or political dispute surrounding Hormuz. The Omani plan, reported tanker incident and acknowledged difficulty of comprehensive clearance all counsel against treating one presidential statement as proof that unrestricted, safe navigation had been fully restored. Independent verification of the cleared areas and continued monitoring would be needed to substantiate that broader conclusion.
