Hormuz Mine Clearance Could Require Up to Six Months

(MENAFN) Removing mines from the Strait of Hormuz could require up to six months and is unlikely to commence before a formal end to the US-Iran war, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, drawing on officials briefed on a classified Pentagon presentation to Congress.

According to the Post, lawmakers were informed that Iran may have deployed 20 or more mines in and around the critical waterway — some of them remotely triggered via GPS technology, a feature that renders detection considerably more challenging.

The briefing drew frustration from both Democratic and Republican legislators, as it suggests the conflict's economic damage — including persistently high oil and gasoline prices — could weigh heavily on markets well beyond the coming months.

The question of mines in the Strait of Hormuz has been a point of contention for some time. US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran had removed or was in the process of removing the mines, and that the majority of Iranian "mine droppers" had been neutralized in US airstrikes. Tehran has flatly denied laying any mines in the waterway, dismissing the allegations as American propaganda — though Iranian state media reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had issued safe passage maps for the area.

Accounts of Iranian mine-laying activity in the strait first surfaced in early March, with US officials later suggesting that small boats had taken over deployment operations after larger vessels were destroyed.

The Pentagon did not respond to questions from the Post. US Central Command declined to offer any comment, and the White House directed all inquiries back to the Pentagon.

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