US forces destroyed 16 Iranian minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
In a statement posted on X, CENTCOM said American forces had eliminated several Iranian naval assets during operations aimed at preventing threats to international shipping.
“US forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz,” the command said.
The strait is one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, with roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies passing through the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
CENTCOM said the strikes formed part of a broader effort to degrade Iran’s naval capabilities and prevent harassment of commercial vessels.
“American forces are degrading the Iranian regime’s ability to project power at sea and threaten freedom of navigation in waters essential to American, regional and global security and prosperity,” the statement said.
President Donald Trump also warned Tehran against attempting to mine the strait, saying any such move would provoke a severe military response.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said Iran must remove any mines immediately if they had been deployed.
“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,” he wrote.
“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,” he added.
The developments come amid the expanding tensions in West Asisa between the US, Israel and Iran that began on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes on Iranian targets, including sites in Tehran.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory and US military facilities across West Asia.
During the opening phase of the conflict, Iran’s longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes along with several senior military and political figures, creating a major leadership vacuum in the Islamic Republic.
Post his death, the Islamic Republic declared 40 days of mourning with his son Mojtaba Khamenei – a rather shadowy and obscure figure in Iranian politics up until now – taking his father’s place as Iran’s new supreme leader.
