US Military Directs Ships to Cleared Route in Strait of Hormuz Away from Iranian Mines

Washington — The U.S. military is directing commercial ships to a route in the Strait of Hormuz farther from Iran. The Navy has spent weeks clearing that path. The U.S. warns that the normal route could be extremely hazardous due to mines laid by Iran.

The notice to mariners went out the same day the U.S. launched Project Freedom to reopen part of the strait. U.S. Central Command forces will coordinate with commercial ships to guide them through the cleared path.

At a Pentagon briefing Tuesday, officials displayed a graphic showing Iran laid new mines in the strait on April 23. CBS News reported about a dozen Iranian mines there in March. That month, the Pentagon assigned MQ-9 Reaper drones to mine sweeper support in the waterway.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has taken on mine hunting duties, two U.S. officials told CBS News on condition of anonymity to discuss national security issues.

Iran has laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz, though not extensively, Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, told CBS News. We've addressed this in recent weeks by clearing a pathway for safe transit, he said. We will keep taking steps to let ships complete their journeys safely.

In March, when reports surfaced of Iranian mines, President Trump said the U.S. had no knowledge of it. We have no reports of them doing so, he said. The Pentagon then cited no clear evidence of mines in the strait. The administration has since acknowledged some mines.

I don't know if people appreciate how outrageous this is, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday at a White House briefing. That any country would try to fire at or sink commercial vessels or put mines in the water — both are illegal.

On April 24, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran that more mines would violate the ceasefire. If there's attempts to lay more mines, recklessly and irresponsibly, we're going to deal with that, he said.

Tuesday, Hegseth said of mine threats, If there are mines identified, some of our units could undertake it or the world could. Right now, we have a lane of safe passage for commercial shipping.

Two U.S. commercial ships have left the Persian Gulf since Project Freedom started. That amounts to a small fraction of the 1,550 commercial vessels stuck in the Gulf, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said.

Hegseth said hundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit. Neither he nor Caine gave expectations for crossings in coming days.

Both called Project Freedom a defensive operation, temporary in duration and separate from Operation Epic Fury bombing campaign. Rubio said Tuesday that Epic Fury is over and concluded.