Iran Lays More Mines in Hormuz; Trump Orders Navy to Sink Any Vessel Planting Them

Iran Lays Additional Mines in the Strait of Hormuz

Trump Orders Navy to Sink Even Small Boats

Three US Aircraft Carriers Deployed as Blockade Tightens

Iran has laid additional mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Axios reported on April 23, citing officials, that the naval arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week. It was Iran’s second mine-laying operation since the war began.

The US military detected and tracked the activity in advance and reported it to President Donald Trump.

Trump later wrote on Truth Social that he had ordered the US Navy to fire on and sink any vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. “I ordered them to shoot and sink them, no matter how small the boat,” he wrote. “There must be no hesitation.”

The US has assessed that it destroyed more than 90% of Iran’s large mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities in the early stage of its airstrikes. But it believes mine stockpiles remain in coastal areas.

Iran is also using small vessels the size of fishing boats to lay mines. Those boats can also be fitted with rocket launchers and machine guns, making them a threat to commercial shipping.

Iran is estimated to have laid fewer than 100 mines in its first mine-laying operation after the war began. The US military has also determined the scale of the latest deployment, though it has not disclosed specific figures.

The US military is operating underwater drones in the Strait of Hormuz to remove mines and has also deployed mine countermeasure ships.

Meanwhile, the US Navy aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush arrived on April 23 in the area of operations overseen by US Central Command, which directs American forces in the Middle East. With the number of US aircraft carriers deployed to the region rising to three, the maritime blockade against Iran is set to tighten further.

Shin Hyun-bo, Hankyung.com reporter greaterfool@hankyung.com