U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz as President Donald Trump moves to secure the vital shipping lane amid escalating conflict.
CENTCOM announced the strikes in a statement and accompanying video posted on social media, saying that U.S. forces “eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz” during operations on March 10.
The action follows earlier comments by President Donald Trump, who said in a Truth Social post that U.S. forces had destroyed “10 nonactive, mine-laying boats and/or ships, with more to follow” as Washington seeks to prevent Iran from blocking the narrow maritime corridor.
The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, carrying roughly 20% of global oil shipments.
The destruction of the vessels comes amid mounting concerns that Iran may attempt to mine the strait in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets that began Feb. 28 and triggered the broader war now spreading across the Middle East.
Since the conflict began, shipping traffic through the waterway has plummeted as insurers and shipping companies avoid the area because of the risk of missile, drone, and naval attacks. Oil prices have surged, and dozens of vessels have remained anchored outside the strait awaiting safer conditions.
Trump has repeatedly warned Tehran that the United States would not allow Iran to shut down the waterway. The president said last week that the U.S. Navy could escort commercial tankers through the strait if necessary.
Also on Tuesday, Trump said there were no reports of Iran laying such mines but threatened military actions “at a level never seen before.” He threatened military consequences similar to those deployed in countercartel operations in the Caribbean and the Pacific, saying that minelayers would be “dealt with quickly and violently.”
The night prior, he threatened military action “twenty times harder” if Iran weaponized the strait and stopped the flow of oil.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously warned ships against entering the strait and threatened to target vessels as retaliation for U.S. and Israeli military operations.
TRUMP SAYS US DESTROYED 10 ‘INACTIVE’ IRANIAN MINE-LAYING VESSELS
While much of the country’s navy has been destroyed, it has retained enough small boats to lay mines in the waterway, possibly to block shipping and retaliate for U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military and infrastructure targets. Iran has reportedly already begun laying dozens of mines.
The Washington Examiner reached out to CENTCOM for verification on the total number of Iranian ships eliminated.
