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The Pentagon has dismissed a report claiming it could take six months to clear all the mines laid by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Washington Post earlier reported that the Pentagon claimed it could take six months to clear the mines laid in the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. The Washington Post’s report also claimed that the Pentagon’s assessment said it was unlikely such an operation would begin before the end of the war.
According to Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell, The Washington Post’s report was based on a “classified, closed briefing”, but much of the information was “false.”
“The media cherry-picking leaked information, much of which is false, from a classified, closed briefing is dishonest journalism,” Parnell told AFP on Thursday.
“One assessment does not mean the assessment is plausible, and a six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the Secretary.”
“A six-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an impossibility and completely unacceptable to the Secretary,” Parnell said in a statement shared with AFP.
Iran restricted movement on the Strait of Hormuz at the start of its war against Israel and the United States (US) on February 28, 2026. The restriction has caused world oil prices to spike, and the prices could remain high.
Prior to the ongoing escalation, one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas was conveyed through the Strait of Hormuz. Energy supplies movement through the Strait has not returned to its pre-war levels despite the US and Iran’s ceasefire and the US Navy blockade.
US lawmakers were told that Iran may have placed 20 or more mines in and around the strait, some floated remotely using GPS technology, which makes them harder to detect, according to the report.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that mines may be present in a danger zone covering 1,400 square kilometres, which is 14 times the size of Paris.
Iran has also threatened not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US fails to lift its naval blockade.
A spokesman for German transportation giant Hapag-Lloyd cautioned last week that shippers needed details on viable routes as they remain fearful of mines.
