Report: Iran Prepared to Mine the Strait of Hormuz During Israeli Attack

SadaNews - Two American officials stated that the Iranian military loaded naval mines onto ships in the Arabian Gulf last month, an action that heightened Washington's concerns about Tehran's readiness to close the Strait of Hormuz following Israeli strikes on locations across Iran.

The officials, who requested anonymity, told Reuters that these previously unreported preparations, discovered by U.S. intelligence, occurred after a period in which Israel launched its initial missile attack on Iran on June 13.

The loading of the mines - which were not publicly disclosed in the strait - suggests that Tehran may have been serious about closing one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world, a step that would escalate an already intensifying conflict and severely disrupt global trade.

Approximately one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and closing it would likely lead to a sharp rise in global energy prices.

On June 13, Israel, with U.S. support, launched a 12-day attack on Iran that included military and nuclear sites, civilian facilities, and the assassination of military leaders and nuclear scientists, while Iran responded by targeting Israeli military and intelligence bases with ballistic missiles and drones.

On June 22, the U.S. attacked Iranian facilities and claimed it had ended its nuclear program, to which Tehran retaliated by bombing the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar that houses U.S. forces, and Washington then announced on the 24th of that month a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Tehran.

Shortly after the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, reports indicated that the Iranian parliament endorsed a measure to close the strait.

However, the decision was not binding, and it was left to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to make a final decision regarding the closure, according to the Iranian channel "Press TV" at the time.

Reuters was unable to determine precisely when Tehran loaded the mines onto ships during the air war between Israel and Iran, which, if deployed, would prevent vessels from passing through Hormuz.

It is also unclear whether the mines have been unloaded since then.

Sources did not disclose how the U.S. determined that mines had been loaded onto Iranian ships, but such intelligence information is usually gathered through satellite imagery or covert human sources, or a combination of both methods.