President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that Iran would face severe military consequences if mines placed in the Strait of Hormuz are not removed, amid reports that U.S. intelligence has seen signs Tehran may be preparing to deploy them.
“If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait — and we have no reports of them doing so — we want them removed immediately,” Trump said.
He added that if mines were placed and not removed “forthwith, military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.”
Trump also said that removing any mines that may have been deployed would be “a giant step in the right direction.”
CBS News reported earlier Tuesday that U.S. intelligence has begun seeing indications that Iran may be taking steps to deploy naval mines in the strategic waterway.
The White House later said the U.S. military has not yet escorted any commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright deleted a post on X in which he had said the U.S. Navy escorted an oil tanker through the key waterway.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that no oil tankers or other vessels have yet been escorted through the strait.
The war with Iran has effectively halted shipments through the waterway along Iran’s coast, where about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes. Middle East oil producers have reportedly run out of storage capacity and stopped pumping.
Trump said earlier this month that the United States would provide protection for oil tankers traveling through the strait.
The Pentagon on Tuesday renewed threats to intensify strikes against Iran unless shipping through the route can resume, saying U.S. forces are targeting Iranian mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied that any tanker had been escorted through the strait.
“Any movement of the U.S. fleet and its allies will be stopped by our missiles and drones,” Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said in comments carried by Iranian state media.
Earlier Tuesday, the top U.S. military officer said the Pentagon is examining options to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz if ordered to do so.
“We’re looking at a range of options there,” Gen. Dan Caine told reporters at the Pentagon.