The United States military said it had cleared Iranian sea mines from internationally recognised shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the operation as a significant step toward safer passage through the strategically important waterway.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, announced the development in a video posted on the social platform X on Thursday evening. Cooper said US forces had removed mines placed months earlier by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that the strait’s recognised transit routes were now free of those devices. The claim was reported by The Hill but was not accompanied in The Hill’s report by independent verification or a response from Iran.
The wording of Cooper’s announcement was specific to the established international shipping lanes. It did not amount to a broader statement that every part of the strait had been surveyed or cleared, and the report did not provide a mine count, an operational timeline or details of the naval assets involved.
The operation could ease one hazard facing commercial vessels using the strait if the military’s assessment holds. Ship movements through the channel had been severely constrained during an almost six-month war involving Iran, according to The Hill. Those restrictions had contributed to higher energy costs because the waterway is a crucial route for oil shipments.
The report cited AAA data showing that the average US price for a gallon of regular petrol stood at about $4.10 late Thursday, compared with approximately $3.21 a year earlier. The figures illustrate the wider pressure on consumers during the disruption, although the report did not isolate how much of the increase was caused by conditions in the strait.
The mine-clearing statement came during a separate expansion of US economic pressure on Tehran. Earlier in the week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries to end financial ties with Iran or face possible exclusion from the US dollar system. The administration called that campaign “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Cooper’s announcement establishes the US military’s position that a defined navigational threat has been removed from recognised routes. It does not by itself guarantee a return to normal commercial traffic, which can also depend on security assessments, insurance, operating decisions and the broader conflict. The Hill’s report offered no traffic figures following the announcement.
For shipping operators, the next practical measure will be whether vessel movements through the transit lanes become less restricted. Any sustained change would provide a clearer indication of how the reported clearance is affecting passage through the strait.
