US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened Iran with unprecedented military consequences if it had placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz and failed to remove them.
"If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
He added that removing the mines would be "a giant step in the right direction."
Trump, however, also noted that US has "no reports of" Tehran putting out mines in the waterway.
He also said the US would deploy the same technology and missile systems used against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean to destroy any vessel attempting to lay mines in the strait. The US has been striking suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, killing dozens as part of a broader counter-narcotics campaign.
The warning came after a CNN report that Iran has begun laying mines in the strait. Sources told the news outlet that only a few dozen had been placed so far, but Iran still had up to 90% of its small boats and mine-laying vessels intact, leaving it capable of deploying hundreds more.
Meanwhile, CBS News, citing US officials, said Iran appeared to be preparing to deploy mines using smaller vessels capable of carrying two to three mines each.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints, with around 20 million barrels of oil passing through it daily. Iran's IRGC had previously announced the closure of the strait to transit following the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, pushing oil prices above and raising fears of a prolonged global energy disruption.
US authorities have implemented political risk insurance for tankers operating in the Persian Gulf and have indicated that the US Navy could escort shipments if necessary, though no such escorts had been confirmed.
Trump said on Monday that Iran will be hit 20 times harder if it does anything to stop the flow of oil. He pledged the strait is going to remain "safe.”
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday the US will look at "a range of options" if it is tasked with escorting ships through the strait.
"We're putting up risk insurance. We'll perhaps go alongside of them for protection," he said.
The escalation in the Middle East flared since Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran on Feb. 28, and to date killing more than 1,200 people, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was the supreme leader. At least eight US service members have been killed since the beginning of the campaign.
