CENTCOM chief says main Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes are mine-free as Iran reports new tanker incidents nearby

U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Friday that internationally recognized shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz were clear of Iranian naval mines and that commercial vessels were continuing to transit the strategic waterway.

In a video released by CENTCOM after an aerial inspection of the strait, Cooper said U.S. forces had cleared mines from the principal transit corridors and were continuing maritime operations to keep them open.

“The internationally recognized shipping lanes are completely clear of Iranian mines,” Cooper said, adding that commercial traffic was moving through them.

Cooper also claimed U.S. forces had largely destroyed Iran’s naval capabilities in the area, saying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy was “basically on the bottom of the sea.”

His remarks came amid a series of maritime incidents around the strait. Iran’s IRGC Navy said separately that oil tankers attempting to use routes Tehran considers unauthorized had caught fire or been stopped, while Iranian authorities have also reported mine incidents outside approved corridors.

Those Iranian claims have not been independently verified, and they do not by themselves establish that mines remain in the internationally recognized shipping lanes Cooper referred to.

Separately, maritime security sources have reported attacks on commercial vessels in and around the strait, including a Panama-flagged tanker struck by limpet mines. The perpetrators of several recent incidents remain unidentified.

The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical route for global oil and liquefied natural gas exports, making its security a central concern for Gulf producers and international shipping.