Strait of Hormuz reopening likely to be delayed to sweep Iranian mines

Mines placed in the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war are putting a damper on plans to quickly return shipping traffic to normal under a memorandum of understanding signed this week.

President Trump on Monday said the U.S. military was already “doing a little hunting for a couple of mines,” — an estimated 5,000 of which Iran possessed and could have placed in the waters in and around the strait after the conflict began in late February.

But such an operation — which would need conventional minesweepers, underwater drones and likely the help of allies — could take months to complete and deter shipping companies from ​passing through until assurances are absolute, experts say.

“They’re an unknown, they’re hard to find, and they create a sense of fear that other weapons don’t,” said Steven Wills, a navalist for the Center for Maritime Strategy. “They can just come out of nowhere if they’ve been laid in the right place at the right time. . .. I think it’ll take some time to figure this out.”

Wills said that there could be anywhere from dozens of mines up to 100 to 200 in the waters in and around the strait. The varieties could range from those that float just beneath the water’s surface to those that sit on the seafloor and are triggered by sensors.

He personally predicted the figure to be on the lower end as mines are placed through small boats controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and each boat could carry only one or two.

“I don’t think they laid a huge number, but it’s hard to tell until you get people in there and start looking and start generating some reports,” he said.

Bryan Clark, an expert in naval operations with the Hudson Institute, also guessed the Iranians laid “maybe a few dozen mines” in the course of the war, mostly at the start as the U.S. quickly started to attack any boats that looked like they were doing so. 

But even a few of the floating bombs would be more than enough to deter vessels from traversing the strait because........

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