The United States military said it destroyed several Iranian naval vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including 16 ships identified as minelayers.
The operation was confirmed by US Central Command, which also released video footage of some of the strikes on the social media platform X.
The action came amid intelligence reports suggesting that Iran had begun deploying naval mines in the strategic waterway. According to two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments, the activity raised concerns that Tehran could attempt to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global energy corridor through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil supply passes.
Reacting to the reports, US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that, “if Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later stated on X that the strikes were carried out under Trump’s orders. He said US Central Command had been “eliminating inactive mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz—wiping them out with ruthless precision,” adding that the United States would not allow “terrorists to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage.”
