US President Donald Trump has said the US Navy has cleared all mines from the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that Iran has largely blockaded since the outbreak of war in the Middle East on 28 February. Trump warned that any vessel found laying new mines would be "immediately and systematically destroyed", as Washington seeks to reassert control over a route through which roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas once passed, causing sharp swings in global oil prices during the closure.

The announcement follows the collapse of a US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed in June, which had set a 60-day deadline for a deal on the strait ahead of wider nuclear talks; that deadline has now lapsed, prompting fresh US sanctions that Trump believes could topple the Iranian government. Iran's economy minister said Tehran was "fully prepared" for the measures, while China, Iran's largest oil buyer, denounced the sanctions as illegal and vowed countermeasures ahead of planned Trump-Xi talks. Separately, Oman has been mediating between Iran and the US, with its foreign minister expressing hope for a temporary shipping corridor and eventual "practical arrangements" to restore safe navigation through the strait.