President Donald Trump authorized the destruction of sixteen vessels identified as mine-laying ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, following warnings to Iran against disrupting the critical waterway. The action came after reports of Iran potentially deploying mines in the strait, a narrow passage through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply flows.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump issued a direct threat to Iran via his Truth Social platform, stating, “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the U.S. Twenty times harder than they have been hit thus far. We will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a nation… But I hope and pray, that it does not happen.” He subsequently demanded the immediate removal of any mines Iran may have placed in the strait, adding that military consequences would be “at a level never seen before” if the demand was not met.
The Pentagon confirmed that ten inactive mine-laying boats and/or ships were initially destroyed, with Trump stating “more to follow.” U.S. Central Command later announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that a total of sixteen such vessels had been eliminated. The U.S. Military reportedly utilized “the same Technology and Missile capabilities deployed against Drug Traffickers” in the operation, according to Trump.
Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, dismissed Trump’s warnings as “hollow threats,” asserting that previous powers had failed to eliminate Iran. He warned, “Be careful about yourself, so that you are not the one who is eliminated.” Larijani further stated that the Strait of Hormuz would be “either a strait of peace and prosperity for all or will be a strait of defeat and suffering for warmongers.”
The U.S. Navy has reportedly been declining near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz, according to sources familiar with the matter. This occurred as commercial shipping through the strait had effectively ground to a halt. Trump, in a CBS News interview on Monday, claimed the U.S. “could do a lot” about the strait and threatened Iran if it inhibited the waterway, stating, “If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran and you’d never hear the name again.”
CBS News reported that Trump described the U.S. War with Iran as “exceptionally complete,” claiming Iran’s navy, air force, and missile capabilities had been largely dismantled. Yet, the U.S. Military had already struck more than 3,000 Iranian targets in the first week of operations. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei replaced his father as Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday, a development Trump said he had “no message” for.
