Iran has been unable to open the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the critical points for a truce in the Middle East, as it is unable to locate all the mines it laid in the waterway and does not have the capability to remove them, according to a report by the New York Times (NYT). The development comes after President Donald Trump warned that the US will open the Hormuz “with or without” Iran’s support.ย
After the beginning of the war that even killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran had used small boats to lay mines in the Hormuz. Along with the threat of drones and missiles, placing the mines in the Hormuz reduced the number of ships passing through the waterway, which is critical for the global economy.ย
Quoting officials, the NYT said Iran placed the mines ‘haphazardly’ and it is not clear whether it recorded where they were laid. The report said even if the position of the mines was recorded, they could have drifted or moved.ย
The officials pointed that removing a sea mine is difficult compared to land mines and even the US military does not have “robust mine removal capabilities”. “Iran also does not have the capability of quickly removing mines, even the ones it planted,” the NYT report said.
Hormuz to feature in US-Iran talks?
Opening the Strait of Hormuz is likely to feature in the US-Iran talks in Pakistan’s Islamabad on Saturday. On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is part of the Iranian delegation for talks with the US, that safe passage through Hormuz would be possible for two weeks in coordination with the Iranian military and the “consideration of technical limitations”.
The NYT report quoted American officials as saying that the Iranian foreign minister’s statement highlights Iran’s inability to locatet the mines. Though it must be noted that Iran published a chart on Thursday that showed the mines laid in the Hormuz from where nearly 20 per cent of the global crude passes through.ย
Meanwhile, Trump has reiterated his confidence that the Hormuz will open soon. “And now we’re going to open up the Gulf with or without them (Iranians)… But that’ll be open,” the American president said on Friday, while speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One.ย
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