WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. military had hit and “totally destroyed” 10 inactive minelayers, warning that any mines planted by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz must be cleared immediately.
Trump posted on the Truth Social website on Tuesday in an apparent response to media reports that Iran had begun laying mines in the Strait: “If Iran has laid any mines in the Strait of Hormuz and we have received no reports that they have done so, we want them removed immediately!
He said Tehran would face military consequences if it failed to do so, without providing details.
“If for any reason landmines were planted and not removed immediately, the military consequences for Iran would be unprecedented. On the other hand, if they removed the mines that may have been planted, that would be a huge step in the right direction!” Trump wrote.
He said the United States was using the same techniques deployed against drug traffickers to “permanently eliminate any vessel attempting to mine mines in the Strait of Hormuz,” later adding that the United States had hit and destroyed 10 inactive minelayers.
In recent months, the United States has carried out a series of attacks on ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific allegedly carrying drugs, killing dozens of people.
The Pentagon said earlier on Tuesday that it was attacking Iran’s mine-laying ships and mine storage facilities.
The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has effectively blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes.
After deletion
The U.S. military has begun looking at possible ways to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz if ordered to do so, top U.S. generals said earlier on Tuesday.
“We’re looking at a range of options,” Gen. Dan Cain told reporters at the Pentagon.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted on X that the U.S. Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the critical waterway, but later deleted the post.
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told reporters when asked about the issue at a press conference late Tuesday that the United States has not escorted any tankers or ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
“After it was determined that DOE staff’s captions were incorrect, a video clip was removed from Secretary Wright’s official X account,” a DOE spokesperson said.
Commenting on Wright’s remarks, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied that an oil tanker was being escorted.
“Any action by the U.S. fleet and its allies will be stopped by our missiles and drones,” Ali Mohammad Naini said in comments published by Iranian state media.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Jasper Ward and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Elwely Elwelly in Dubai; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Chris Reese and Rosalba O’Brien)
