▲ An unmanned surface vehicle equipped with a mine-detection sonar sensor
The U.S. military has secretly conducted high-difficulty mine clearance operations in the Strait of Hormuz for four months, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the 6th (local time).
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the newspaper reported that the U.S. military deployed Navy SEAL underwater demolition teams, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and specialized underwater mine-countermeasure drones for these operations, which were carried out under high-risk conditions mostly under the cover of night.
Clearing mines is a task that typically takes months even during peacetime.
This is because specialized minesweepers must comb the waters in a zig-zag pattern to locate mines, cut their tether cables, and strike and destroy the floating mines from a distance once they surface.
However, the U.S. military had to carry out this operation during wartime, and specifically in the Strait of Hormuz, where narrow widths, strong currents, and large tidal variations present significant challenges.
There was a high risk of exposure to Iranian attacks during the operations, and because Iran holds various types of mines including floating, limpet, moored, and bottom-laid mines, the clearance methods had to vary accordingly.
During this operation, U.S. forces moved in small teams using rubber boats, identifying the locations of mines deployed by Iran in the water and on the seabed using Common Unmanned Surface Vehicles (CUSVs) equipped with high-resolution side-scan sonars and underwater drones.
Even if mine locations are pinpointed thanks to advanced equipment, mines can only be neutralized after going through the most dangerous task of Navy explosive ordnance disposal teams physically entering the water to approach the mines and install explosives.
This means only a few mines can be processed in a single day.
Experts suggest that robotic underwater clearance drones, such as the UK's Seafox or the U.S. Navy's new AN/ASQ-235 Archerfish, may have been used to detonate and destroy them to reduce casualties.
Nithya Lavu, a researcher at Chatham House, said, "Mine clearance takes an extremely long time," adding, "It is essentially carrying out operations to directly detonate and remove unexploded ordnance underwater."
Because of this reality, experts were surprised when U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. military announced last week that all mines had been cleared from the Strait of Hormuz, according to the FT.
Ethan Cornell, a mine expert at Taiwan Security Monitor, said, "It is hard to know what to believe," adding, "There is always the possibility that the U.S. Navy missed some mines, and it is certain that Iran will try to lay mines again."
Military analysts believe Iran possesses thousands of Maham mines similar to those used in World War II.
These mines come in various types, including floating, moored, and bottom-laid.
Iran is also known to possess EM-52 mines, which are improved versions of Chinese models that lie dormant on the seabed and launch like rockets toward the surface once they detect a ship's acoustic and electromagnetic signatures.
In bottleneck routes like the Strait of Hormuz, mines are effective simply through the risk of their presence. Such uncertainty serves as a "useful card" for Iran while posing a major psychological and financial burden—such as rising insurance premiums—for the shipping industry.
Although no vessels have been reported damaged by mine explosions, Iranian media reported last week that at least two ships struck mines, and an Iranian military spokesperson claimed on the 3rd that additional mines were laid near the coast of Oman.
The FT pointed out that the shipping industry remains skeptical of the U.S. announcement that all mines have been cleared.
Bill Hamblet, a retired U.S. Navy captain who long operated in Middle Eastern waters, told the FT, "Iran knows very well that its most powerful card is cultivating the perception that it controls the strait," adding, "If it can convince the world that it can threaten the strait, that is its most potent strategic leverage."
The FT assessed that the U.S. does not need to individually prove that every single mine has been removed and only needs to build enough trust to allow commercial shipping to resume in the Strait of Hormuz, but that this is not easy in a situation where one out of 30 ships remains vulnerable to Iranian missile and drone attacks.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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