The U.S. military has sunk 16 Iranian mine-laying craft near the Strait of Hormuz in military action on Tuesday, according to reports.
The sinkings come after warnings from President Donald Trump that, had Iranian forces tried to mine the Strait, they needed to be removed posthaste.
This apparently didn’t go as planned, with a U.S. Central Command post noting that “U.S. forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz.”
It included video of some of the strikes against theIranian boatsthat were unclassified.
U.S. forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz.pic.twitter.com/371unKYiJs
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM)March 10, 2026
Few details were included in the post, including whether or not Iran had already been laying mines in the Strait, which is used to transport over 20 million barrels of oil a day. That’s roughly a fifth of world oil supply.
“The United States believed that Iran was preparing to mine the strait but had not begun the operation, according to an American official. Still, the preparatory efforts spooked the Trump administration, prompting the White House order to the military to strike Iran’s mine-laying equipment,”The New York Timesreported.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the northern Arabian Sea. Iran’s southern coastline runs along the strait, and military and civilian vessels transiting through are routinely questioned by Iranian authorities via maritime radio communications when entering and exiting the gulf.”
The Times also noted thatIranhad previously laid mines in the Persian Gulf during tensions between Iran and the United States back in the 1980s. While U.S. minesweepers were able to clear most of them, a U.S. frigate was hit by one in April of 1988. It did not sink.
Source: VidNews » Feed
