Iran has begun laying naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical Persian Gulf channel that carries about 20% of the world's oil, according to U.S. officials, raising concerns about global shipping and energy supplies.
U.S. intelligence indicates Iran started deploying the mines Thursday using small boats after the U.S. military destroyed larger Iranian naval vessels capable of quickly laying mines in the narrow waterway, a U.S. official briefed on the intelligence said, according to The New York Times on Friday.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can deploy hundreds, even thousands, of small boats it has long used to harass larger vessels, including ships operated by the U.S. Navy.
Iran announced shortly after the United States and Israel began attacks on Feb. 28 that it was closing the strait, disrupting global shipping and pushing oil prices sharply higher.
On March 2, a senior Revolutionary Guards official said the strait was closed and claimed Iran would "set those ships ablaze," according to state media.
Several vessels in the area have been struck in recent days, with Iran claiming responsibility for some attacks.
On Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi denied that Iran was placing mines in the waterway.
In his first public remarks since the war began, Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said in a written statement Thursday that "the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used."
U.S. officials said the latest mining effort is slower and less efficient than using larger vessels, but Iran appears to be attempting to lay mines faster than U.S. forces can clear them, in hopes of deterring ships from entering the strait.
Iranian activity in the area has become a major focus for U.S. military and intelligence agencies as the Trump administration seeks to keep oil shipments moving through the strategic passage.
President Donald Trump has warned Iran against mining the strait.
On Monday, he wrote in a social media post that the United States would strike Iran "twenty times harder" if Tehran blocked oil shipments.
He added on Tuesday that "If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!"
The U.S. military said this week it had attacked 16 Iranian vessels believed capable of laying mines.
Naval mines in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s severely damaged commercial shipping.
Today, the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world's most important energy choke points, with roughly one-fifth of global oil passing through the narrow channel.
Iran has not relied solely on mines to threaten shipping. On Wednesday, projectiles struck three additional ships in the region, intensifying fears that the conflict could disrupt global energy supplies.
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