The US Navy reportedly carried out a secret four-month operation using Navy SEAL divers to clear Iranian-laid mines from the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies pass. The mission, revealed by the Financial Times, followed President Donald Trump's announcement last week that "all mines" in the strait's international waters had been removed or detonated, as he declared the narrow channel "American territory." Iran had mined the strait since the US and Israel struck the country in February, threatening a vital global shipping route.

Divers worked at night in small teams using inflatable boats, robot vessels and towed sonar arrays to locate an estimated 80 mines before manually placing charges or deploying robotic submersibles such as the UK's SeaFox to destroy them, a process experts described as slow and dangerous. No US casualties have been linked to the operation, and shipowners are cautiously optimistic that the southern section near Oman is genuinely clear, though only a handful of vessels have transited the full 104-mile strait since the conflict began. Iran disputes the US claims, insurance costs for tankers have risen up to tenfold, and officials continue to warn of drifting or unmapped mines that could still pose a threat.