The US government says it has mapped the locations of Iranian mines scattered across the Strait of Hormuz and expects normal shipping traffic to resume within 30 days once Iran removes them.
The strait normally handles around 140 ships per day. That number has cratered to about 7. Roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through this narrow waterway between Iran and Oman.
What happened and what’s being done about it
Iran began deploying mines in the strait as early as March 2026, with additional placements reported through mid-April. The mines have proven difficult to track, in part because some have drifted from their original positions, complicating both Iranian and American efforts to catalog their locations.
US naval operations to support mine-clearing kicked off on April 11, following a ceasefire between the US and Iran. Destroyers including the USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy have been deployed to the area to assist with clearance operations.
